Of Burning Kingdoms, Emperors And The Fight For Justice
by CUtopia
Summary: "The king is dead... long live the king," Severus breathed to himself, the sword gliding from his grasp as he felt how the overwhelming feeling of power was coming down at him, flowing through his veins, driven by the beating of his heart.
1. The King Is Dead - Long Live The King

Written for "National Write A Novel Month 2015"

A thanks to Liza, who caused the wave of inspiration to hit me after reviewing my drabble "Deathly Shadow", a Assassin!AU which is located in the collection "This is Halloween" and is rather connected to this story. It is a bit of a spoiler, though, so only read if you think that you can cope with knowing the end ;)

Also, thanks to kayleigh, who is beta-ing this :)

I hope you all like this, and I would love to see you reviewing this, as I always like to read some opinions :) There will be cookies for everyone who does ;)

Medieval!AU

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 **Of Burning Kingdoms, Emperors And The Fight For Justice**

1.

The King Is Dead – Long Live The King

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom. Wealthy and peaceful, blessed with wild shores and fruitful plains, it was reigned by a royal family whose bloodline was as ancient as the land they lived on. They were fair monarchs, and that pleased their folks, as they were free of the concern about where to get their next meal.

As the time of the old king had come and he looked forward to meet his beloved queen again, to be reunited with her in death, he handed his crown over to his eldest son, who proved to be as good to his people as his father had been.

Everything could have remained like this, if it were not for the unpleasant human nature itself. Because at some point, they are all willing to give up peace and a carefree life in which they had everything – you see, it will never be enough for some people. Greed is strong, as is the sense for destruction, and if there is a charismatic leader with a talent for big words, thousands will follow him because they want more.

oOo

The glowing red evening sun had just lost its fight against the moon and the upcoming night and had vanished on the horizon, as unbelievable things were starting to happen.

As the light faded over the noble Kingdom of Ulidia, armed men were storming it's monarchs castle, a strong fortress named Blackdown Stronghold, which was located on a rocky hill. Towering above the green valley of Black Hollow, it dominated the landscape, but its thick stone walls were not providing enough protection tonight to hold back the armoured attackers.

The drawbridge had not been closed yet and concealed as merchants, the men were able to get into the courtyard before the royal guards of King Quinn of Ulidia were able to figure out where the heavy weapons had come from and in general, what was happening in this second.

Many of them were killed by a sword before they could get their hands on their own weapons, and in a matter of minutes, the unknown attackers had invaded the main part of the castle, in which the chambers of the king and all of his other governmental halls were located.

In the throne hall, a large room decorated with thick, crimson brocade curtains and carpets and the golden throne standing on its far side, King Quinn was jumping to attention as the noise of the fight reached his ears.

The sound of metal hitting metal or flesh was hanging in the air, accompanied by the screams of the men who were being wounded or killed as the attackers made their way up the stairs.

Seconds later, the heavy oak doors were being pushed open with a lot of force and the two guards, who had been standing in front of the throne hall, fell to the ground, lances protruding from their chests.

A tall man was walking into the throne hall, carrying a bloody sword in his hands. He had pale skin and shoulder length black hair, which was practically melting into the long, black robes that he wore over his leather armour. His cloak was billowing behind him as he approached the throne and King Quinn with long strides, his face an unmoving mask.

Quinn stared at the man in surprise, his eyes wide and a choked whisper escaped his throat:"Severus."

"Indeed, my beloved brother. The lost son is coming home, finally," the man named Severus answered, and a sneer sneaked onto his face, making his onyx black eyes sparkle. "You seem to be less delighted about my visit than I hoped you would be. Should I have brought you flowers as a gift? Or maybe some of your favourite game?"

Quinn gulped, his gaze wandering over his brothers appearance, as if he needed the time to digest the image he was providing in this moment, standing in front of him, looking so unfamiliar.

Blood was running down the shining metall of the swords blade, falling to the stone floor in little drops. Red stains and specks were all over Severus' face and also on his leather armour and the white shirt he was wearing underneath.

"I... I find it hard to be delighted to see you brother, when you seem to be leading an army into my castle, letting them kill my guards and servants. What is this all about, Severus, and why are you standing in front of your king with your bloody sword drawn?," Quinn fretted, not able to hide the nervousness that had been building inside of him, obviously much to his brothers amusement.

"Oh, my dear Quinn... a good politician, but the sight of a sword makes you shake in fear. It should be clear to you, my dear brother, what my intents are. You have proven to be intelligent enough, you only seem to be too surprised to really believe that this is happening," Severus grimaced, acting as if he was intimidated by the fact that Quinn had not already figured out why in the world his own brother was leading an attack on his castle.

"You may be right, brother – I don't want to believe that you would be capable of doing something like that," Quinn agreed, a bit of sweat shining on his forehead.

"To err is human, Quinn," Severus grinned, lifting his sword slightly as he took another step towards his brother, his gaze dripping of hate and loathing as he spit at the king's feet. "I also feel like you were utterly foolish to think that I was no threat to your power. Have you forgotten how outraged and hurt I was when father decided to hand the crown and the kingdom over to you when he was feeling that death was going to take him away?!"

"Severus, I am his eldest son, I was the rightful heir, of course I was inheriting the throne of Ulidia, we knew since we where children that I would become king! I just do not understand why you are so bitter about it! So bitter that you end up standing here in front of me, ready to kill me!," the king screamed, gesticulating so much that his crown was sitting askew on his black curls. Severus just snorted, glaring at his brother.

"You are a weakling. Ulidia could be way more powerful and wealthy by now if you only had the guts to expand. But you value your freedom like a naïve child, like you have always done. It is time for this to end and for me to get what I deserve! This castle, this crown, this throne."

Quinn did not look afraid any more, but rather sad as he listened to Severus' speech of rage and under his breath, he muttered:"What have you become, my brother?"

"Enough of these sentimental words. I am here to relieve you of the unpleasant commitment of having to breathe. I am sure you don't mind, your highness."

He did a mocking bow before his sword swung up and slashed through the air, gaining momentum before drilling into his brother's chest with a nasty sound. Quinn screamed in agony as blood pooled thickly from the wound as soon as Severus pulled the blade out again, grinning madly in triumph. The fatally wounded king was falling to his knees, his shaking hands finding the fabric of his brothers cloak, closing tightly around it.  
"Some... somebody will s-send you to h-hell for this...," the dying man stuttered, his voice weak and raspy as it came to an end.

"I highly doubt that. If you don't mind – this is mine now," Severus hissed through gritted teeth, taking the crown off his brother's head and placing it on his own before shoving him away. And as Quinn of Ulidia hit the cold stone floor, he was dead.

"The king is dead... long live the king," Severus breathed to himself, the sword gliding from his grasp as he felt how the overwhelming feeling of power was coming down at him, flowing through his veins, driven by the beating of his heart.

His gaze wandered from the body of his dead brother up to the wooden dais on which the throne was standing. Ruby red velvet cushion, gold-plated wood richly decorated with runes and patterns... It was as if the throne was whispering to him, calling for him to finally, after spending a lifetime waiting for this moment, mount it.

Slowly, as if this symbol of power could vanish any second, Severus climbed up the steps that lead up to the top of the podest, excitement seemingly intensifying his feelings.

As he finally seated himself on the throne, the crown's weight prominent on his head, he burst out laughing in utter glee.

Finally, he was where he had always felt he belonged. He, Severus, was the new king of Ulidia, and now he was going to form this kingdom after his vision.

"Your highness," a heavy-breathing man exclaimed as he staggered into the room, pressing his hand to a cut at his shoulder. "It is done, the guards of Quinn are dead."

"And so is Quinn himself," Severus grinned, gesturing towards the body that was lying on the floor. "You, Ronan, will be highly rewarded for your loyal service as the leader of my little army, but first, there are other matters that are more important."

Ronan bowed deeply in front of his new king, before Severus continued:"Send the messengers out to notify the warriors that the rest of the kingdom is to be wiped clean of my enemies. Just as we planned, Ronan."

"As you wish, master," the other man answered and hurried out of the throne hall while Severus leaned back, a satisfied grin on his face.

There was nothing sweeter than revenge and he, Severus, would be able to relish in a ocean of it. Over the years, a long list of enemies had been collected – people who were loyal to his brother Quinn in a nearly obsessed way. People who had denied to help him when he had tried to overthrow his brother's reign for the first time and therefore had prevented that he had been able to take any actions back then...

Those who had betrayed him on his way of seeking for power. He wanted to see all of them dead, no matter how many resources it would take to succeed.

And of course, his remaining siblings – there was no way they could live, they were the biggest threat to his newly gained power. The younger brothers Niall, Lorcan and the youngest child, their sister Fianna, were as loved by the people as Quinn had been, and therefore, they were more than capable of leading a rebellion against Severus.

There was no way he was going to endanger his power and his dreams. He craved for more riches, for more mightiness in a bigger and stronger Ulidia. Dreamed of big, powerful cities and feared armies that were able to get everything Ulidia needed to rise high.

Yes, he would do everything that was necessary to fulfill his visions, but to build something new, everything would have to be burned down first.


	2. Night Of Change

A big Thanks for all the reviews and also to my two fellow Gryffindors, Kristen and Lynn who favorited/followed! :)

I hope you like this chapter, leave me your opinion! :)

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2.

Night of Change

The moon had taken over the sun's place on the skies above the valley of Black Hollow and its pale light was illuminating the small village of Waterhal, a distance of a good half day walk from Blackdown Stronghold away.

In one of the wooden cottages, the family Hooch was residing, though this evening, only the daughters of the merchant were at home.

Just right now, the older sister, Rolanda, was bringing her younger sister Alannah to bed, a ritual they were holding on to even though Rolanda had already experienced twenty summers and Alannah thirteen. Still, every evening Rolanda was sitting on the edge of her sister's bed, gently pulling up the blankets, making sure that the girl was lying safe and warm.

"Do you think father and mother will bring us a gift from their trip?," Alannah asked as she cuddled into the warmth of her blankets, watching as her older sister braided her own platinum blonde hair in the same way she was wearing it, because every morning, Rolanda was doing her hair.

Rolanda smiled about Alannah's words and nodded, answering:"I am pretty sure they will have something for us, sweetheart. And if it is only a beautiful shell."

"Why 'only'? I like shells, you can hear the rush of the ocean when you hold it to your ear."

Releasing a short laugh, Rolanda finished her braid and ruffled through Alannah's thick locks, saying:"Well, then hope that mother and father have the time to visit the beach and collect one for you between doing their business."

"I really hope so," Alannah yawned, her brown eyes shimmering with tiredness when she took Rolanda's hand. "Will you sing the beautiful lullaby to me again?"

"Of course I will, otherwise you will reproach it to me for forever, my beloved sissy," Rolanda mocked, grimacing sarcastically while winking at Alannah.

She cleared her throat and took a deep breath, making sure that Alannah was properly positioned under the blankets before she started to sing a old lullaby in a high, clear voice:

 _I see the moon, the moon sees me  
shining through the leaves of the old oak tree  
Oh, let the light that shines on me  
shine on the one I love._

 _Over the mountain, over the sea,_  
 _back where my heart is longing to be_  
 _Oh, let the light that shines on me_  
 _shine on the one I love._

 _I hear the lark, the lark hears me_  
 _singing from the leaves of the old oak tree_  
 _Oh, let the lark that sings to me_  
 _sing to the one I love,_

 _Over the mountains, over the sea_  
 _back where my heart is longing to be_  
 _Oh, let the lark that sings to me_  
 _sing to the one I love._

Alannah smiled happily while drifting off into the welcoming arms of sleep and Rolanda adjusted the blankets a last time, pecked a small kiss on her cheek and whispered a "Sleep well" before leaving her sister's small room, carrying the only candle with her.

In her own room, just the next door, she changed from her plain, brown workdress into her long, white nightgown, illuminated just by the flame of the candle.

Every evening she was bringing Alannah to bed, she savoured the moment of their sisterly love and felt grateful that she had the opportunity to be with her every day. Normally, she should have been married by now, living in the household of her husband, and in fact, she was the only girl of her age in the village that was still unmarried.

Rolanda had always been a rather free-minded girl who played in the wide meadows that were surrounding the village and admired the female warriors that were sometimes to be seen as they rode past, coming from the castle. She had always dreamt of becoming a warrior too when she had been little, because these women had something heroic about them. Of course, upon growing up, she had learned that there was less heroism involved than the tales about the big battles promised – war, it was all about death and loosing friends in the battle, being wounded and maybe being scarred for live, or even meeting death too.

Still, some of the childhood fascination had remained inside of her heart, and she was determined to be as brave as they were in her life, and that she would never let herself be limited by a man.

Her father had realised that it was nothing good to marry his older daughter off, he saw the beneficial side of Rolanda being different, at least it seemed like this, because after searching for a fiancee for a few weeks after her fifteenth birthday and seeing his daughter's unwillingness, he gave up on the thought without further explanation.

To Rolanda, it could not have been better – she was able to see her sister Alannah grow up and protect her, because where Rolanda was strong and brave, her sister was a bit hesitant and often afraid.

Just as Rolanda blew out the flame of the candle, the peaceful silence of the night was broken by the noise of a loud tumult, of soldiers marching and horses speeding into the village.

Surprised, Rolanda walked the small distance to her window and peered outside, able to overlook the main road of Waterhal from her position.

What she saw was shocking her so much that she released a small scream before pressing her hand over her mouth.

Soldiers, heavily armed with bows and swords and lances were storming the village by foot and by horse, killing the few guards that were on the streets. Some of the soldiers were kicking doors down, going inside the houses only to come back out dragging the residents out onto the cobble stone street with them. Seconds later, screams could be heard, children whining loudly and then, Rolanda could hear how somebody banging against the front door of their own cottage, so loudly that the sound was extremely prominent even upstairs in her room.

"Open up! Open up immediately, or we will force our way in!," a loud, male voice ordered and Rolanda hurried down the stairs, a sleepy and frightened looking Alannah on her heels the next second.

"Alannah, stay behind me, do you understand?," Rolanda told her little sister in a hushed voice and it took her a lot to not sound as though she was panicking. There was no time to ask why the men were here, as obviously, they had lost their patience and the door was being kicked down, causing the two Hooch sisters to jump in shock. Rolanda grabbed Alannah's nightgown sleeve, shoving her behind own back, hoping to shield her sister from whatever was going to come next.

Three soldiers in heavy leather armours entered the cottage, looking so intimidating that Rolanda and Alannah took a step backwards, further into the living room.

"Name," one of the men, obviously the leader, demanded, his eyes gliding up and down Rolanda's body, making no attempt to hide his obvious enjoyment about the situation.

Rolanda felt more than uncomfortable in this situation, but she tried to hold on to as much of her dignity as she could despite standing in front of three armed soldiers, being technically half-naked by wearing only her thin, white nightgown.

"Hooch," she answered, holding her head high and tried to look as unimpressed as she could, hoping to show the men that she was not afraid of them.

"Are you two alone here?," the leader of the small group asked further while tearing his gaze away from Rolanda's body to check a roll of parchment.

"My parents are merchants, they are gone to attend some business."

"Hooch was the name?"

The man's expression had changed after reading over the parchment, and Rolanda had a feeling in her stomach that this could not mean anything good.

"Yes."

"Take them to the carriage," the leader said and made a short gesture towards the two soldiers who were accompanying him and immediately, they stepped forwards, grabbing both Rolanda and Alannah by the arms.

"Wait, what are you doing, why...," Rolanda screamed, feeling horror well up inside of her as the men dragged the sisters along and outside.

"You will come with us, to the castle," one of the two soldiers stated bluntly and as they left the house, other soldiers were going inside, obviously to raid the house as some of their comrades were carrying different items out of the other houses.

Only a short walk down the road stood a hay carriage, on which already a few people were sitting, looking just as frightened as Rolanda felt. While walking, she was holding on tightly to Alannah, her arms wrapped around her, afraid to loose her if she would let go of her.

Even now, she swore to herself that she would protect Alannah, no matter what would follow next and seeing the chaos and misery all around her, she knew that she had every reason to do so.

People were running around, trying to save their property from the destruction caused by the soldiers, women and children were screaming, some men were making attempts to fight back, mostly to protect their children or wives. Rolanda pulled Alannah towards her body, pushing her face into her shoulder so Alannah would not see how one of the soldiers ruthlessly beheaded one of the men.

And suddenly, the screams grew louder and the crowd of people who were not being held at bay by soldiers, started to move in panic as one of the houses suddenly stood in flames.

As the houses were mainly built out of wood, the fire was growing extremely fast and within a matter of seconds, the sparks had jumped to the houses on either sides of the already burning one.

The horses in front of the carriage started to move and pulled it down the street, away from the fire that was turning the night into day with its light.

Slowly, they were leaving the village and Rolanda looked back, feeling and seeing how the world she had known and lived in until this evening was breaking apart. She asked herself why this was happening and, what was more important, why Alannah and she were being taken away. They had done nothing, the only thing that had not been as usual tonight was that her father and her mother were not at home. And that was not as unusual too, as they had to travel rather often as merchants, though they always tried to take Alannah and Rolanda along so they were not left alone.

It was a unfortunate coincidence that they were gone just this week, having not taken the sisters along as they would be too busy for any adventures in the seaport.

Rolanda was sure that her father would have had this sorted out within a matter of minutes, but he was not here, and her duty was to take care of Alannah now, as they were driving into a future whose nature had vanished behind a thick wall of fogg. As if the future was not uncertain enough in a life without soldiers who were storming the village to take you away.

And above it all, the moon was standing high on the night sky, unmoved by what was happening down on earth.


	3. Kingdom Burning Down

Next chapter! I hope you all like it! :)

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3.

Kingdom Burning Down

As the first orange stripes of dawn were appearing on the sky by early morning, Severus of Ulidia stepped out onto the balcony of the throne hall of the fortress of Blackdown Stronghold, deeply breathing in the cool morning air.

A light mist covered the green meadows of the valley while the first sunrays grazed over the tops of the hills all around. Songbirds were singing the melodies of dawn, flying between the trees or sitting on the dew kissed branches.

It could have been an peaceful picture of a ordinary morning, if it had not been for the soldiers who were carrying the bodies of the guards of Quinn out of the castle, throwing them onto a carriage that was standing in the courtyard.

Also, on second sight, the valley of Black Hollow was not as tranquil and untroubled as it seemed, and Severus relished in the view that the valley offered to him.

Columns of thick, black smoke were rising from the small villages around the hill the fortress was located on, serving as a proof of the destruction he had wished for. It showed that the most of the houses in the villages and also some of the farms had been burned down, just as he had ordered and when he thought of the smoldering ruins, he smiled. This was exactly how he had imagined the beginning of the new Ulidia, even though it seemed quite extreme to burn a whole kingdom down to build it back up.

He allowed himself to float on the waves of euphoria that the sight of the destruction was causing inside of him and he smiled to himself. Finally, everything he had ever dreamed of and everything he deserved was coming true.

Within the next weeks, his soldiers would have reached even the farthest parts of Ulidia, and then, there would be no one left to stop him. By then, he would have cleared his path of every obstacle, he was sure about that.

And then, he would set an end to this tiring, weak diplomacy his father and his brother had loved so dearly. When every single man had had a sword placed in his hand, he would lead them towards the kingdoms that were lying south and west from Ulidia. One kingdom was not enough for him, and he would not stop, even if he had to set the whole world on fire.

Suddenly, he heard steps behind him and Severus turned around on his heel to check who was disturbing his peace.

"Your highness, a number of messengers have returned to the castle," Ronan told his master, bowing deeply while speaking to display his utmost devotion, holding a roll of parchment in his hands.

"Any word about my siblings?"

"The men searched the woods they were said to be hunting in – unfortunately, I have to inform you that they were not there, my king. There also were no traces of a camp or that they had been there at all. Maybe it... it was a false trail."

"What?!," Severus spat, his face contorted in anger, his hands balled up to fists, his knuckles white. "But there has to be something! Send out more men! I want you to find them!"

Ronan nodded hastily, having taken a step backwards as his king had his outburst, replying:"As you wish, my master! Though, there is some kind of a hint! Sir Niall's horse has been spotted by a farmer who lives by the outskirts of the forest. He could not tell if it truly was your brother that rode it, but at least he could assure us that he was sure about the horse, as he saw your brother with it when he visited the castle. Being a supplier under Quinn's reign, he was here pretty often. Nevertheless, our men are following him."

Severus' rage was fading away slowly as he heard Ronan's words, understanding that not everything was lost though it seemed like a setback that Niall, Lorcan and Fianna had somehow managed to escape the soldiers who were out to catch them. He had to ask himself if they had been warned, and if this was case, who had done it and how?

Starting to pace up and down the balcony, he asked Ronan:"Where was he heading?"

"To the north, master."

"Anything about Lorcan and Fianna?," Severus questioned Ronan further, his fingertips absent-mindedly running along the cool metal of his crown. He tried to figure out why Niall should be heading towards the north - there only was a chain of high mountains that were difficult to overcome, blocking the shortest way to the northern coastal villages and ports of Ulidia.

It made no sense to him, but at least he saw the advantage the mountains were providing him and his own men – Niall would be forced to move very slow, as he would rather kill himself than to abandon his precious horse, a focus that Severus thought to be utter foolish. But well, he would not be the one to complain if Niall's obsession eventually caused him to land in his dungeons.

Ronan cleared his throat carefully, looking almost afraid to pull his king out of his thoughts, causing him to nearly stutter as he stated:"There is nothing about the two of them, your highness. But... but every single soldier we have sent out knows about the importance of finding your siblings and bringing them here. I am sure, my king, that it will not take us long to track them down!"

"It better will be as you say, Ronan."

"I will not disappoint you, your highness. For that, I guarantee with my honour and my life," Ronan whispered, his hands shaking as he bowed again, fear showing clearly in his eyes, but Severus ignored the uncomfortableness of his servant.

He was the emperor, for god's sake, he was not supposed to be a pleasant conversationalist, no, he had a kingdom to rule, there was no time for compliments.

And also, he was of the opinion that to succeed with this task and to strengthen the fundaments of his almighty power alike, he needed to rule Ulidia with iron hands. He felt like always having a firm grip on things one wanted to keep with him was a wise advise.

No matter how kind his father and his brother had been during their reign, he was going to be as merciless as he needed to be if a situation required it, because this was going to be the only way how he would be able to lead Ulidia to a new, even bigger glory.

"I am sure you won't, Ronan. You have been my most loyal soldier and servant for the last few years. You never betrayed me and fulfilled my wishes to your best abilities. Unlike other individuals, we must say. Those who did let us down through the years, who abandoned our cause, will feel how vicious and cruel my revenge can be. I will make them wish they had sticked by my side and beg for their lives to be spared. How many of my enemies have you tracked down by now?"

For a short second, something like utter madness flashed across the kings face, and Ronan hurried to speak:"The messengers say that there are about a dozen they have captured tonight, due to their foolishness to stay in the valley of Black Hollow. They were easy to find, they say. Some were executed right away as they tried to flee from our soldiers, but the rest are on their way, master."

Severus nodded slowly and stopped pacing around the balcony, fixing his dark, pensive gaze on Ronan again.

"What about Hooch?"

Ronan shuffled slightly and the way his hands were tightening around the roll of parchment hinted that again, he did not have the best news to tell to his master.

"The village of Waterhal was frisked first last night, as you ordered and we raided his cottage, but he was not there, your highness. Neighbours say that he left a few days ago, to attend business at one of the eastern ports, though their informations were very vague. They seemed to be reluctant to tell us more and, my lord, the east coast of Ulidia is long."

"I am well informed about the geography of my kingdom! It is from utmost important that we find him, Ronan!," Severus growled indignantly, obviously starting to be furious yet again and Ronan frowned in concern as he hurried to go on with his explanations.

"I... I know, master, and I am more than relieved to be able to tell you that we may not have found Hooch himself yet, but that we have his daughters in our power and that they are being brought here."

The king's face lit up instantly and he approached Ronan with two long steps. The man seemed to fear that his master could attack him, but he did nothing like that. Instead, Severus grabbed Ronan by his shoulders, a bright and satisfied grin on his pale face as he shook his captain slightly in excitement.

"This is almost better than having him himself, my friend! We have what he loves most in our hands, and I am sure that it will be useful to us in many different ways! One must never underestimate the power something foolish as love has over people!," he exclaimed, his smirk turning out to have a slightly evil touch. "This could make my revenge even sweeter."

"I... I am pleased if you are, your royal highness," Ronan whispered, lowering his head slightly.

"Go now, Ronan, I trust you to do everything that is necessary to gather the informations I want from the girls," the king ordered, his fingers touching his golden crown once again before he turned his back to Ronan, who slowly withdrew himself from the balcony. Severus placed his hands on the stone balustrade in front of him, taking in deep breaths of the morning air.

His gaze wandered downwards, gliding over the thin stream of carriages that were slowly winding their way up the narrow street that led up the hill on which the castle had been built.

Upon looking down at them, being only dots far below him, he felt even more powerful, as if he could crush them by merely moving a finger above them.

He knew that some of the carts were carrying people from the villages that were nearest to the fortress – traitors, men and women who were known to be his brother's strongest supporters. They were a danger to him, just as his remaining siblings were, and he wanted them out of his way.

Others were transporting something else Severus was longing for to possess power over – not objects of his revenge, but the items that would satisfy his greed, the craving for gold, his hunger for all the riches that existed in this world.

Gold, silver and bronze coins, precious metals, strong weapons and shields, sparkling jewellery made of pearls and diamonds, rare woods and the finest fabrics were all on their way to him.

There was one thing he had to acknowledge – his father and his brother may have been blind concerning certain things during their reign, as the importance of spreading a kingdom's influence with the sword. But certainly, they had understood it how they could improve the wealth of their subjects, something that came to Severus' benefit.

His soldiers would have plenty of valuable things to gather and fill the treasuries of the fortress, and he would use all the gold to built up the strongest force that had ever marched across the soil.

Let the masses scream and cry and beg them not to take everything they have – in a few years time, they would thank him for the even bigger riches they would possess then, thanks to him, King Severus of Ulidia. Something like childish joy filled him as he watched the carriages coming closer, feeling impatient about starting on building the future he had always imagined.


	4. Taken And Imprisoned

… A thanks to my Maths Professor for boring me so much that I used the entire lecture to write down like 90 percent of this chapter ^^ But, it was torture to type down two and a half pages of handwritten text, because it was written so tiny O.o Doing this for you, guys ;)

Also, thanks to Alice for doing some beta-ing!

Looking forward to your reviews! :)

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4.

Taken and Imprisoned

A bit down the hill, one of the carriages swayed sickeningly as the stallions pulled it slowly up the narrow street towards the castle, levering against the slope of the fortress hill. Occasionally, the carriage would make an alarming leap whenever the wooden wheels were hitting a larger stone, making it a rough ride.

The constant bumping and shaking of the carriage was keeping its passengers awake, along with their own fear, and travelling through the whole night like this had left its traces on the fearful faces of the prisoners. They all were extremely exhausted, and maybe, the four soldiers who were holding them at bay with their sharp lances would not have been necessary – nobody would have come very far in this state of tiredness.

When one took a closer look at the soldiers, they four of them were looking awake and alert, somehow proving to the cleverly thinking mind that the actions of the previous evening must have been planned long beforehand, allowing the men to be prepared and properly rested for the task assigned to them.

Due to this obvious fact, they were wrapped into thick cloaks they wore over their shirts and armours that protected them from the already biting cold which was ruling the autumn nights.

Therewhile, everybody else onboard the carriage was shivering and shaking heavily, and they had moved closer together, trying to store and share at least a little bit of body heat.

Rolanda had wrapped her arms tightly around her little sister Alannah, holding her in a close embrace while her teeth clattered together with so much force that it was being painful. Unfortunately for them, their nightgowns were barely more protection from the freezing air as bare skin was.

Trying to concentrate herself on something else than the numb feeling that was spreading in her fingers and toes alike, Rolanda observed the situation and what the other people were doing, how they were acting.

A tense silence was hanging in the air, the same one that had dominated their whole night after the crying and the hysterical screams and pleas had died down.

Nobody dared to say a word, seemingly afraid of a possible punishment from their guards and they even acted a bit as if their neighbours, friends and acquaintances were strangers to them that they had just met the previous evening when they had climbed the carriage. If it was pure self-defence or had the goal of keeping others out of trouble, Rolanda could not tell.

She knew some of these people pretty well, they were her close neighbours, childhood friends or once had been a brief dance partner during one of the many celebrations they had had in Waterhal – Spring Blooms, May Dances, Summer and Winter Solstices...

There was Aurora Sinistra, a girl that had been watching over Rolanda when she had still been a toddler, despite herself being only a few years older. Her black hair disheveled, she was staring blankly at the wooden planks that formed the floor of the carriage. A even colder shiver ran down Rolanda's back as she recalled the brief look she had had on a scene from the last evening, in which Aurora's husband had been stabbed by a soldier as he had attempted to rescue his wife. The two of them had only been married for a month, looking forward to having a family of their own, still floating on this wave of euphoria couples had after their wedding. What a beautiful small ceremony it had been, in which Rolanda had served as a bridesmaid...

Opposite to her sat the old couple living across the street from the Hooch family, Pomona and Filius Flitwick, their fingers tightly entwined, looking oddly at freedom with themselves, the situation and the world. Filius had been a loyal knight to the deceased king when he had been a young man himself, a skilled sword duellist who had won many friendship tournaments with the neighbouring kingdoms, and who still was a role model to the young boys in the village, despite his high age.

There was Marlene, the daughter of the shepherd McKinnon, whose herd was grazing on the meadows around Waterhal in the summer months. Rolanda gulped as she recognised the small baby that the shepherd's daughter was holding in her arms as the newborn sun of the baker. This could only mean that the kind man and his beautiful wife were dead, because they would never have abandoned their son, not even if they had been forced to climb a carriage too.

A painful memory of him giving a big slice of his heavenly delicious apple pie to her as a gift whenever she had visited his bakery after being sent out by her mother. She could almost smell the scent of freshly baked dough, almost taste the sweetness of the apple filling, almost hear his knowing laughter.

Immediately, there was another picture emerging from the back of her mind, one of Aurora, her husband and herself, sitting in the meadow outside the north end of the village on a warm summer day. Picking colourful flowers to braid them together to flower crowns and singing songs about fierce knights and brave princesses together, that was how they had spent so many joyful hours.  
But now, as her gaze wandered around, she felt like these images were memories from another life, as they were so far away from their current reality that it seemed unlikely that the happiness and the freedom about them had once been real.

A heavy sadness filled her heart and seemed to weigh down her shoulders by this thought and she had to bite her lower lip and lift her head a little bit to prevent the tears from falling from her eyes. She held her breath for a second as she registered that the fortress had come considerably closer, a seemingly endless, dark silhouette of thick stone against the morning sky.

Never before had she been this close to the fortress, and it felt a bit odd to see it from this perspective, as it normally was a markant, but still distant place to her, its form sometimes melting into the mountains that were behind it. Everybody in the villages in the valley saw the castle every day, but it had never been of much importance to their daily life, or their life in general. As if it was a whole different universe, a mysterious place that most of the would never visit, no matter how much they dreamed about it.

When Rolanda had been a child, she had spent hours outside, sitting in the grass and looking up at the distant castle that was towering above the valley, her eyes bright with the kind of curiosity only children possessed.

Some of the other girls had been dreaming of being a princess, spending their days wandering around the huge, elegantly furnished halls, wearing the most finest dresses, socialising with the most sophisticated people while servants read every wish from their very lips.

Though this kind of a careless life in luxury seemed like a tempting thought, Rolanda would always answer that being a knight at the castle, fighting for the king and riding with the most bravest heroes would be much more adventurous. What did she want with a tiara when a sword was way more exciting, promising fights for glory and honour.

Of course her friends had shot odd looks at her back then, but Rolanda had ignored them, too absorbed by her imagination of how it was to be living in the fortress.

And even though she was afraid of what would happen to Alannah and her up there, she could not deny that she was also curious.

oOo

The glowing red sun had barely released its connection to the horizon and started to very slowly bring a bit of warmth back as the carriage drove into the huge and already busy courtyard of the castle, the horses coming to a stop in front of a heavily guarded archway that led to an open staircase.

Alannah shuffled nervously next to Rolanda, who gave her a reassuring squeeze of a hand as their guards jumped off the carriage and ordered them all to climb down slowly.

Maybe it was because the shock of being forced out of the house and to climb a carriage while the village was being burned down was wearing off. Or perhaps Rolanda felt a little bit too optimistic about the willingness of the soldiers to explain the situation to her.

Regardless where this courage came from – or maybe it was simply recklessness – Rolanda found it was a good idea to stop moving as soon as her bare feet had met the cobblestones of the courtyard.

Blocking her fellow prisoners from climbing down behind her, she instantly drew the attention of a superior soldier towards her.

"Hey, you over there, move!," the man screamed, his face contorted in anger as he approached her. Rolanda could feel her knees starting to tremble ever so slightly, but nevertheless she held her head high, determined not to show any signs of weakness to these people.

"I demand to be told what this is all about! Who gave you the right to force us to leave our homes, to be taken here while being treated like criminals?!," Rolanda answered, her voice surprisingly stronger than she had thought at first, supporting her intention of trying to show these men that they could not do everything with them as they pleased.

The man grinned at her, showing rows of yellow, crooked teeth as he grunted oily:"The noble King Severus of Ulidia gave us the right, your king, girl, and now move!"

Rolanda stopped short, wondering about the answer he had given her. King Severus? As far as she remembered, and well, there was no doubt to it, King Quinn had ruled the kingdom and he, kind as he was, would never have ordered such a violent act.

"This was not a proper explanation!," she responded, even daring to glare at her opposite. Answers was what she wanted, and this man had to know that he should not ridicule her.

"You are a little bit too outspoken and annoying for my taste with that loose tongue of yours, wench! Now. MOVE!"

And before Rolanda could duck or even react at all, the man had taken a swing and his palm hit her face with so much force that she felt as if he had shattered her cheekbones and sent her to the ground. Tears shot into her eyes immediately and she held her burning cheek, staring up at the man, her temper boiling inside of her, ready to break free every second.

"So, sweetheart, will you obey now or will I have to teach you the hard way how you behave?"

Rolanda surpressed the urge to jump to her feet and strangle the man as she saw Alannah sobbing in shock, causing her to remember that she still had her sister to take care of, and surely it would not help her if her sister landed herself in punishment. There was no way she would let them seperate her from Alannah.

Breathing hard as she forced herself to calm down, Rolanda stood up extra slowly, supporting herself on the side of the carriage while she brushed some straw and dirt off her white nightgown.

During that split moment, she looked up, her gaze wandering and stopping as she saw a dark-clothed man standing by the balustrade of one of the balconies above the courtyard, a crown resembling the one on the crest of Ulidia resting on his shoulder-length black hair.

A odd feeling started to build up in her stomach to spread around in her whole body and suddenly their eyes met. The intense stare of the black depths did send shivers down her back, making a deep uncomfortableness linger about her being.

There was something mysterious about the dark orbs, about him overall, something that she could neither place nor describe at all, though it felt strangely familiar to her. Something that seemed to pulse in the air between them, like a steady heartbeat.

Their eye contact broke abruptly as a soldier shoved Rolanda forwards towards the archway and the staircase and she hurried to grab Alannah's hand as the whole group of prisoners moved forwards to be led down into the dungeons.

Minutes later, Alannah and Rolanda had been locked away into a cold, dark cell, but at least, they had found a moth-eaten blanket lying on the small haystack that was obviously supposed to be their bed.

Thousands of questions seemed to be swirling in Rolanda's mind and there was no way she was going to be able to find answers right now. She doubted that it was a good idea to ask one of the guards that were walking by their cell occasionally, after what had happened in the courtyard.

Who was this King Severus? What had happened to King Quinn?!

There was no denying that something horrible must have happened to their beloved monarch, because she was absolutely convinced that King Quinn would have never allowed anything like this to be planned and executed.

"Ro, I am afraid," Alannah whispered, her voice weak and shaky and Rolanda pulled her into her arms, gently stroking over her sister's hair.

"I won't let anything happen to you, Alannah. I promise... I am here...," she mumbled into Alannah's hair, hiding her own anxiety, trying to be strong for her sister.


	5. Disobey And Be Disposed

I am actually surprised by how good this is going! :D

Thanks for the nice reviews and don't be scared to write more, if only a few words!

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5.

Disobey And Be Disposed

High above the courtyard, on the balcony of the throne hall, King Severus was observing the scene with interest.

The young woman who was trying to discuss with his soldiers seemed to be as fierce as she was beautiful, something that he found was not being seen very often. Most women were simply obeying to what their fathers or husbands told them, displaying deepest devotion and never dared to speak up.

She, on the other hand, was different – she was not lowering her gaze, but she held her head high, not afraid to look the guard in the eyes. A few sentences were being exchanged and the guard hit her in the face, causing her to fall and for a second, Severus was asking himself if she would jump and attack the soldier.

But to his surprise, the young woman stayed calm and slowly got to her feet again, looking up to the balcony he was standing on.

Their gazes met and her golden eyes caused a odd feeling to rise inside of him, though it was not an unfamiliar one. It simply surprised him to feel it between him and a simple, ordinary woman...

Magic, after all, was not an ordinary art in their days, had never been, and normally, magic searched for remarkable personalities to settle down within them, and its powers were also visible on the outside. But she... she showed no signs of it.

Only as they looked at each other he could feel the magic pulsing between them, but the moment was over so fast that he settled to the thought that he had imagined it. This had happened before from time to time, because magic was a power that somehow longed for company, and if only to defeat the other magic, but nonetheless it always seemed to not want to be alone.

Therefore, the magic inside of him sometimes tricked him, because it wished too much for a companion.

oOo

A whole day passed, on which more prisoners arrived, not only with carriages, but also by foot, guarded by soldiers on horses – there were simply not enough carriages and by now, King Severus had ordered for a camp to be built by the foot of the fortress' hill. There, the less important prisoners were going to be held captive until his men had decided what kind of value these people had, either in skills or informations. It was also going to be determined how dangerous they could be to the new monarch's powers and if they could be released again to help with the task of building a new Ulidia.

The king would need new soldiers to strengthen the strike power of his troops, but good craftsmen and strong workers were required alike.

As soon as the ruins of the villages would have stopped smouldering and his grasp on the kingdom had become tighter and steadier, they would be sent out to start and built all the villages up again as the cities their king dreamed of.

A source of glory and admiration for the Kingdom of Ulidia they were supposed to become, like in the tales of ancient Rome, a symbol of power. The centres of a great empire, flourishing societies blessed with wealth, a place visited by travellers from all over the continent because they wanted to see the imposant buildings and memorials that they had heard of from tales that were carried to every place in the world. Every other cultural centre would be pushed into the shadows by the cities of Ulidia.

At least, that were the imaginations of the emperor, but it would be a long way to achieve that glory he was dreaming of and an even longer one until every stone would be in its place, forming the monuments he wanted to see.

It was clear to everybody who was informed that a lot of blood and sweat would be flowing and that the sacrifices the folk would have to bring in order to fulfill the wishes of their almighty monarch would mean the end of many existences, and even death. Even now, many people had been killed or had lost their houses, farms and homesteads, and this was only the beginning.

oOo

In the dining hall of Blackdown Stronghold, King Severus was brooding over the huge oak table that was standing in the middle of the huge hall. Strewn across the tabletop were wooden plates with his breakfast, consisting of cold meat, bread and fruits, some drafts of impressive buildings and a huge piece of parchment that actually was a map of the big island Ulidia was located on. Ulidia was one of the two kingdoms lying in the north, with Northern Uí Neíll to its west and the smaller Airgialla to its south. He was trying to think of a plan, to find out which neighbouring kingdom he had to attack first to seek the greatest benefits for his intentions for a new, powerful Ulidia. Northern Uí Neíll was the biggest threat, so normally the logical consequence would have been to attack them first, but then, the king of Southern Uí Neíll would surely send troops to support his brother, and this could mean the end of King Severus' highflying plans – together, the Uí Neílls had twice the power where he and his neighbour were normally relatively equal.

So, this left Airgialla – it was not connected to any of the other kingdoms by marriage and the diplomatic connections, he knew, had been rather cool in the last years, causing it to be a good and also easy target.

But Severus found himself not being able to concentrate on the map in front of him the way he wanted to, affecting his ability to work efficiently. It was something that did not happen very often to him – normally, he had a sharp mind that focussed on a task trouble-free, allowing him to think about the most complex problems.

However, this morning it was different - every time he looked at the map, the outlines of Northern Uí Neíll became blurred in front of his eyes and formed the face of the young woman he had seen in the courtyard the previous day. She did not seem to leave his mind, the memory of her beautiful face was clinging to him and so did the distant feeling of the magic he had thought he had sensed about her. It actually discomforted him that a woman he had only seen for a few seconds seemed to have so much influence on his mind, on his skills and that the mere thought of her caused his concentration to vanish.

He had more important things to think of, he had a new kingdom to built, enemies to deal with... but no matter how hard he tried to wipe the memory of her golden eyes away, she was staying, keeping him away from his work.

About to scream in frustration, Severus wanted to shove the plate with the fruits off the table, and his arm had already started to move as Ronan entered the dining hall, bowing hastily while trying to calm down his breathing.

"Your highness..."

Severus looked up, and Ronan smiled slightly and nodded – the only communication the two of them needed in this moment.

oOo

Only a few minutes later, Severus had changed location to the throne hall, taking seat on his throne and was just fixing some wrinkles in his cloak and also made sure that his crown was sitting straight on his black hair as a man was lead into the throne hall.

His hands were in heavy chains, just as his feet, but for a prisoner he looked relatively calm and unscathed considering that the soldiers had found it necessary to use chains to restrain him.

Severus opened his arms as if he was greeting an old friend and not a prisoner who obviously was an enemy to him, grinning widely.

"What a wonderful sight, Ronan, isn't it?!" He exclaimed and Ronan bowed his head, not caring to hide his relief about seeing his master truly pleased for the first time.

"Kneel down for your king," Ronan snarled at the man, shoving him forwards. "My king, he was literally coming towards our men. Did not even try to put up a fight when they spotted him."

But Severus seemed not to be interested in how the man had been captured – he seemed to be way too occupied with relishing in the sight of the chained one, even as he disobeyed openly, holding his head high.

"I, Niall of Ulidia, will never kneel down or even bow my head for you, my brother. I will always be loyal to the rightful king of Ulidia, our brother Quinn!"

Severus rolled his eyes, looking more annoyed than furious and gestured to one of the soldiers who were flanking his brother Niall, whereupon one of them painfully rammed the wooden handle of his lance into the back of Niall's knees. The dark haired prince released a cry of pain as his knees hit the stone floor and his green eyes filled with tears as he gritted his teeth.

"Well, my dear Niall, I feel like it would be a little bit complicated to bow to our beloved Quinn, as our oldest brother decided to move on to a new realm – the one in which Death is reigning. I must admit that I may have encouraged him in his choice..."

He said it rather casually and observed Niall's reaction with a grin. It was pretty clear that Niall had already suspected that his brother and king was dead, but hearing it from Severus' mouth seemed to finalise everything.

"So my feeling about you was right, Severus. Quinn simply had too much trust into the good side in you, and now it shows how wrong he was with his beliefs! He never wanted to listen to me when I told him my worries about your loyalty, that you would never stay in your exile without ever causing any problems!" Niall whispered, his voice growing louder and more furious with every word that came over his lips. "You never completely coped with the fact that you are a bastard, Severus, and therefore would never be in the line of succession for the throne of Ulidia! Since we were children, you were not able to accept this fact, and now you showed us how far you are willing to go to give yourself a little bit more meaning! But this does not change anything, Severus! You are still a bastard, and there will always be people who will rise against you, because they want the rightful king to sit on their throne, not the son of a witch!"

Severus slowly rose from the throne, his eyes sparking dangerously as he walked down the steps, glaring down at Niall through squinted eyes. He looked like a predator that was stalking up to its prey, ready to strike. The two soldiers and also Ronan shuffled nervously.

"You dare to call your king a bastard?!" Severus whispered perilously, only to scream so loudly one second later that his deep voice resounded from the stone walls. "YOU DARE?! YOU FILTHY, WORTHLESS COWARD!"

His fist hit Niall right in the face, breaking his nose and causing blood to rush out of his nostrils in thick streams, and then, in one flowing movement, Severus had grabbed the handle of Ronan's sword to pull it out of its leather scabbard.

"You dare to call me a bastard in a moment in which you are less worth than a bastard yourself?! As you see, Niall, I don't need to have the same clear, royal blood to flow through my veins in order to possess power, in order to have people following my lead with all their loyalty! And I, I am not afraid of using all possibilities the power over a kingdom can offer. But you will never see these wonders I will be able to create."

If anybody had been present while Severus had killed Quinn not long ago, the scene that followed would have been a déjà-vu – with seemingly the exact same movement, Severus drilled the blade into Niall's chest, releasing a scream of anger.

Niall stared at him with wide eyes as Severus bowed down and grabbed Niall's chin with one hand, forcing the dying man to look at him as he whispered: "I will find Lorcan and Fianna as well, as the same fate awaits them and then, my beloved brother, you three will be reunited in death. And then, nobody will be able to end my power. So, take a seat on a cloud, Niall, and watch how this bastard takes control over the whole world. Enjoy the show."

Niall cried out in agony as Severus pulled the blade out of his chest, but he was dead before he hit the floor and Severus stepped over his limp body, handing Ronan his bloody sword before turning towards his throne to sit down again.

"Send servants to clean up this mess, Ronan. And I want you to display his body on a stake on the castle hill. Let everybody see him, let them see what happens to people who do not show their loyalty to me!"

As Ronan did not answer, Severus stopped halfway up the stairs and turned around, his expression dark. Ronan and the two other men looked shocked – it definitely had not been the first time they had become witnesses to the cruelty Severus was able to display, but it seemed to be something different to them to see their king killing his own brother without any signs of hesitation or regret.

"Are there any problems?!" Severus asked, his tone sounding dangerously, and Ronan hurried to shake his head, bowing hastily before gesturing to the two soldiers who stepped forwards and carried Niall's body away, their faces pale and white like freshly fallen snow.

Severus continued his way up and sat down on his throne, looking calm again for a moment before he jumped to his feet, grabbing a jug of wine that had been standing on a small table next to his throne and threw it through the hall. The jug crashed to the floor, causing wine to flow over the stones and shards to flow everywhere.

"This calculative piece of wastage! He knew exactly I would be too excited upon him being brought to me to think of questioning him about Lorcan and Fianna! He was buying them time! He shall burn in the flames of hell!" he screamed, his eyes adapting a wild expression as he started to pace in front of his throne, his hands balled up into fists. "And I walked straight into his little trap..."

"My king... we... we will surely find a way to succeed without... without your brother's informations," Ronan mumbled, his eyes fixed on the floor, his voice and hands shaking. Severus turned around, his black hair flying around him.

"Of course we will!" he agreed, suddenly sounding shockingly different, causing Ronan to stare at his king in concern and surprise. Severus threw up his arms and exclaimed: "A feast! Prepare a big feast with food and drink for all my most loyal warriors! I want only the best wine, the most tasteful meat, the most talented musicians and the most beautiful dancers! Tonight! Hush, Ronan! MOVE!"

Ronan gulped and bowed before he literally ran out of the throne hall, away from his master who had now sat down again and stared into the air.

Severus was sending silent curses to the heavens as he realised that it had not entirely been Niall who had distracted him from taking in the situation in the way he should have.

He had to find a way to shove these golden eyes into the back of his mind, to lock them in, so they would not get into his way any more. There was no more room for errors on his behalf, and from now on, he would try and close his mind, no matter how much these scaringly intriguing eyes tried to penetrate their way into his thoughts.


	6. Surrounded By Darkness

So, here is the next one :D This is pretty amazing... and I am happy for every review :)

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6.

Surrounded By Darkness

Deep down in the cold, humid and gloomy dungeons of Blackdown Stronghold, Rolanda and Alannah had lost track over the amount of time that had passed since they had been brought into their tiny cell after arriving at the castle.

It could have been only a few hours, but it could also have been at least a few days – nor their cell neither the hallway between the cells had a window through which they could have seen the sky outside, taking the sun's position as a indication of the time of day.

The guards were no help as well – they came past their cell in irregular intervals and the time the guards changed shifts could have been morning or evening alike, they greeted each other with a simple "Hello" instead of "Good Morning" or "Good Evening". Maybe they were doing this on purpose, because these circumstances caused Rolanda to feel more than uncomfortable, as she hated to not know what was going on and not to be in control.

Every few hours, a guard would shove a jug of water through the bars, and twice he had also thrown two pieces of stale bread onto the dirty floor to the sister's feet.

They were always gone too quickly for Rolanda to be able to ask them if they could tell her why they were here and were treated like criminals. Never had they done any harm to others, they were normal, peace-loving people...

There were so many worries swirling through Rolanda's head that she could barely sleep, or even find some rest at night – or at least they thought that it was nighttime when they cuddled closely together on the small haystack that was serving as a bed to them. They covered themselves with the moth-eaten piece of fabric that obviously was supposed to be something like a blanket.

But not only her mind kept Rolanda away from the sleep she could have used so much...

Alannah's fears were only adding to her restlessness, and Rolanda could not even think badly about the way Alannah clinged to her, falling asleep with her arms literally crushing Rolanda's rib cage, only to suddenly wake up with a jerk, ripping Rolanda out of whatever state of rest she had reached.

Every few hours, Rolanda would have to comfort her, and tell her that she could sleep, that she would watch over her.

Also were they still in their nightgowns, as nobody had bothered or found it necessary to provide them with a few pieces of a little bit more appropriate clothing, or at least a cloak. Additionally, there was no fire anywhere near their cell, one that could have warmed them at least a little bit with its flames. Actually, Rolanda was pretty sure that the icy cold was never leaving the thick walls of the dungeons, not even during the most hottest summer months.

She feared that Alannah could catch a cold down here and seriously fall sick in this environment, a thought that caused outright panic inside of her. Mainly because of her grandmother maternal side, a stern woman originally coming from the greater island to the east, where, according to her, the kings were not as merciful as in Ulidia. When Rolanda had been a child, her grandmother would always tell her horrifying tales about the prisoners of the big fortresses, who would be slowly killed by illnesses, a sentence that was found appropriate by the monarchs – letting their criminals miserably perish to throw their dead bodies into the river. Always on the edge to starving, her grandmother had told her, they were so weak that they could barely hold up against any diseases that infected them.

As a child, these tales had caused her nightmares and some of them had been so intense that her mother had to stay with her the whole night – and the next morning, Mrs Hooch would go and scream at her own mother, forbidding her to narrate things like that to her small daughter.

After growing up, she had believed that something like these conditions would never happen in their kingdom, and especially not under the reign of the members of their beloved royal family.

But now, she was facing a situation just like from her grandmother's tales.

Their stomachs felt empty, but they did not dare to eat all of their bread at once, fearing that the guards could suddenly stop providing them with food.

Hunger and the constant anxious sobbing of Alannah were straining Rolanda's nerves, additionally to the worries she already had.

She payed a lot of attention to Alannah's health, knowing that her little sister was not the strongest in withstanding illnesses, even under normal circumstances with enough food available and therefore, despite the younger girl's protests, she handed her at least half of her own bread and wanted her to be wrapped into their blanket all the time.

And as they cuddled close, holding on to each other as if one of them could be ripped away any moment, Rolanda's thoughts wandered to their parents.

They were missing in this moment in which Rolanda could have used the encouraging smile of her mother to lift up her spirits or the wise words of her father, who always seemed to find a solution, no matter how complicated the problems were or how unsolvable a situation looked to anyone else.

She felt incredibly alone and helpless without them and she was terrified that she could possibly do everything wrong. What if she failed in taking care of Alannah, in keeping her safe in here?

They would surely be disappointed if anything happened to Alannah while she was responsible for her, and after they had trusted her to do anything in her powers to protect her.

How she wished they could be here with them right now, because then she would at least not have to worry about their well-being too.

Where were they right now?

Had they been captured as well and were on their way right now, brought to the castle by soldiers just like they had been?

Were they maybe standing in the middle of their burnt-down village, surrounded by smouldering ruins, facing the fact that their house was empty, the door standing open widely. Would somebody be there to tell them that their daughters had been taken away during the sudden attack on Waterhal, and that nobody had heard a single word about them since that evening? Or would there just be stunned silence and a pile of questions nobody was there to give an answer to?

Would they be searching for their daughters, or would they assume that they had been killed during just as some of their neighbours?

But maybe they had not even returned to their family home, maybe they had somehow been able to escape the soldiers, or had not been found important enough...

Though Rolanda assumed that her parents must have some kind of value to the new king and his men, as they had only taken Alannah and her in custody after they had heard their last name. However, what could they want from a simple merchant and his family? Why would this new, mysterious king want to see the Hooch family in his dungeons? It seemed to be the central question that everything revolved around.

Suddenly, the heavy sound of the footsteps of a guard ripped her out of her thoughts and them man stopped in front of their cell, shoving a new jug of water and a half loaf of bread through the bars. This time, Rolanda acted fast enough, jumping to her feet and closing the small distance between her hand the bars, looking at the man with a proud look as she demanded:"Tell us why we are here! What did we do to you to deserve this?!"

The man looked at her for a short moment after picking up the empty water jug somebody had brought them earlier, and he looked as if he was considering to answer, but then he just turned away and left, ignoring her completely.

Rolanda released a frustrated sigh and was about to burry her head in her hands, feeling like she was loosing her hope, but then she remembered that Alannah was paying attention to every move she made. Therefore, she tried to act as calm as possible, hoping that the signs of her concerns would not show to her little sister.

oOo

Many floors above, far away from the cold and depressing atmosphere of the dungeons, the hastily prepared feast that King Severus had demanded was in full swing. Servants had carried two additionall long, wooden tables into the dining hall, so that every single one of the about fifty guests, all loyal henchmen of the new king, would have a place.

The tabletops were creaking under the weight of the heavy plates that were filled only with the most delicious foods – all sorts of game, like deer or wild boar, freshly baked bread that was still warm, fish, dumplings, different soups, and also fruits and vegetables from the castle gardens.

But the most important thing for the men was of course the alcohol – about a dozen maids were carrying heavy jugs filled with wine, beer or mead around, constantly refilling the mugs of the guests to prevent them from feeling thirsty.

Loud laughter was filling the room and mixed with the loud conversations of the men who obviously enjoyed themselves.

On the far side of the room, a colourfully clothed group of musicians had gathered, men with bagpipes, a hurdy-gurdy, flutes, shawms, drums and lutes, whose joyful melodies filled the dining hall, adding to the noise of the guests and thus creating a festive atmosphere.

King Severus was seated at the head of the whole table arrangement, on the heavy oak chair his father had used to sit on in his living days. Grease from his favourite dish, grilled deer, was covering his chin and fingers, but he did not seem to be bothered by his own manners, that were so much different from those that a king normally had.

The king actually looked like he could not get enough, as if he had been starving over the last years as he stuffed food into his mouth without having finished chewing on his last bite.

The golden liquid of the mead mixed with the grease when he took big gulps from his silver goblet, emptying it to the last drop only to gesture to a servant to have it refilled again instantly.

In comparison to his other guests, he was outright avaricious and pretty excessive – he had already ordered more game twice and the cooks of the royal kitchens were struggling to fulfill their king's wishes.

Though he was surrounded by people, he still looked quite isolated – he may have ordered to have as many men invited as possible, but still it was as if he did not quite like to be involved into conversations. Since the feast had started, he had not spoken to anyone, had kept to himself, and he actually had a whole small table to himself. As if he did not wanted to have anyone too close to him.

Just now, as he rose and opened his arms widely, causing the whole crowd of those who were present to fall silent and look at him curiously, he was speaking for the first time of the evening.

"Eat, my friends! Tonight, all of your desires shall be fulfilled! Never shall your goblets be dry and may your plates never be empty. All these years, we have been denied what we deserved, what was rightfully ours, and today, we are celebrating that we were finally able to claim it! Without your support and sponsorship, this would never have been possible, and you shall be receiving your reward!"

The men jumped to their feet, cheering and applauding loudly before raising their goblets, hailing their king for his generosity. A tall, broad-shouldered man nodded at his king before speaking up:"Your highness, we would like to thank you too! We owe you more than our lives for giving us all this power, and we organised a gift for you, my king, to show you how grateful we are!"

"Thank you, Lord Runcorn," Severus answered, making an approving gesture and Runcorn waved at one of the servants that guarded a side door. Instantly, the man opened it and a group of young women entered, about a dozen in numbers. They were all clothed in low-cut, scarlet red dresses that revealed more than they concealed, and some of the man laughed dirty as the girls lined up in the space between the tables.

"Slave girls, from the realms of the vikings," Runcorn explained shortly, and for a second, the king's face seemed to be made of a stone, but nobody saw his slightly disapproving expression, as it was seconds later replaced by a fake grin. The king nodded towards the musicians, who started to play again, and the eating and drinking commenced again, while the girls started to dance to the music.

Severus took his full goblet and leaned back, his eyes gliding over the women that twirled and ogled with the men around them. He did not particularly like this "present" - women were not exactly his biggest interest, and he also had other things to think of than the other gender.

Just as he considered to think of an excuse to leave his own feast earlier, one of the women catched his attention anyway.

Her intense gaze was fixed on him, and her pale eyes reminded him of those eyes that he just could not forget. She smiled as she turned once, her platinum blonde hair flying around her head, and then her hips swayed as she came closer a bit, dancing seductively.

With her next turn, her face seemed to change, transforming to the face of the young woman from the courtyard, and Severus felt greed flow through him as he eyed her hungrily.

He wanted to possess this woman, he wanted to know her secrets, why she mysteriously stayed in his thoughts even though he tried everything to forget her.

His heart beating fast and hard in his chest, he gestured a guard to come to him, totally falling for the illusion of his own mind, and whispered:"Do you see that woman over there? Bring her into my chambers, instantly."

"As you wish, master," the soldier answered, bowing his head slightly before he walked around the tables, grabbing the young woman by the arm without hesitating. Everybody stared at them as the woman started to scream in fear in a foreign language, struggling against his grip and the gazes also shifted to Severus as he stood up, ready to leave.

"Why are you all staring?!" he screamed, glaring at the crowd that had fallen silent. "I am the emperor! You gave me these girls as a gift! And as I am the monarch, I may do everything with this gift, everything I please! Go on! Drink! Eat! Enjoy yourselves!"

Nobody dared to protest and those who had their origins in other kingdoms had not really payed attention at all, as they seemed to be used to scenes like this and were not bewildered at all about the king letting his guards take a woman away.

Severus turned around, his cloak billowing behind him as he followed the guard and the still protesting and now also sobbing woman out of the dining hall. Within seconds, everything and everybody returned to normal, and they celebrated like nothing had happened at all, even though some of the remaining women hesitated before they continued to dance, shock and fear written on their faces. As they started twirling again, their smiles appearing to be incredibly forced, but none of the men seemed to be bothered. Actually, some of them looked a little bit like they wanted to follow their king's example, no matter if the monarch was approving or not. After all, he had ordered them to have fun and have their desires fulfilled tonight.


	7. A Lot More Questions And Less Answers

Bit shorter than I wanted...

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7.

A Lot Of Questions And Less Answers Than Before

In the darkness of the dungeons, Rolanda found that her dreams were the only escape from the seemingly hopeless reality.

This night, or if it was night at all, Alannah did finally let her sleep for a few hours, after having calmed down after Rolanda had sung their lullaby to her.

Luckily, her mind spared her of nightmares about the horrors of the last days and instead did sent her to happier places.

She dreamed of the family picnics they had had in the meadows on warm summer days, chasing down a giggling Alannah. Braiding cornflowers into her own braid while her father and her mother bickered lovingly with each other. A peaceful evening bathing in the nearby lake while the sun was going down, giving her the impression of swimming in gold. Dancing with her friends on the wooden dance floor in the middle of the decorated market place of Waterhal, wearing her best dress.

But too soon, the sleep faded and the dreams slipped away as she was pulled back into the waking world, where she did not even know which time of the day it was.

Only after being woken up by a pair of guards and their superior that stormed into their cell, Rolanda found a little bit of her sense of time back.

"Miss Hooch, good morning," the superior guard snarled, not even bothering to introduce himself. "Get up, there will be a interrogation in a few minutes."

Rolanda slowly got up from their provisional bed and wanted to follow them, but Alannah was clinging to her arm, her eyes wide in fear.

"Don't worry, I will be right back. Everything is okay," Rolanda whispered to her after leaning down and pressed a kiss at her temple. Alannah sniffed, but still let go of her older sister's arm so she could go with the guards, leaving the younger girl alone in the cell.

At first, Rolanda expected to be led to the stairs that were coming down into the dungeons from the courtyard, but after exiting Alannah's and her cell and locking Alannah back in, the men gestured for her to walk into the opposite direction.

Even though Rolanda felt extremely nervous about the interrogation that was lying in front of her, she could not help but look forward to leaving the depressing dark walls of the dungeons for a while and maybe even catch a glimpse of the sky outside.

As they climbed up a the steps of the other serpentine staircase and the warm air met her skin, Rolanda just realised how cold her fingers and toes had become during the last days and she was actually surprised that they still seemed healthy. Shivers ran down her spine and an unpleasant prickling feeling did spread through her hands and feet as they got farther and farther away from the dungeons and she had to close her eyes as they left the staircase, which was only dimly lit by some torches. The daylight that broke trough the windows of the hallway they had stepped into flooded the whole place and blinded her so much that tears stung in her eyes.

The three men guided her down the long hallway, and then stopped in front of a wooden door, one of other countless, similar looking ones in the corridor. While they unlocked it, she had the time to take a look through the window next to her, which offered a good view over the whole valley beneath the castle.

It was a very clear morning, one of those on which you could see so far that the small cow and sheep herds grazing on the plateaux of the mountains were visible as small, black dots. Therefore, it was not difficult for Rolanda to spot the villages closest to the castle. Though a peaceful dawn was hanging over them, it could not change the fact that there obviously was not much left of them. It was easy to recognize that some of the roofs had broken in, due to the burnt beams underneath and sometimes, the only thing that seemed to be left of the cottages were the stone walls that once had been a home to somebody.

Horror flowed through her as she thought about how it was possible that many more villages and farms in the kingdom might look like this by now. There could not be a sense to this madness, only a reason why it was happening.

"Move," one of the soldiers demanded and pushed her forwards, directly into the room they had just opened.

There was not much furniture inside of the windowless room, only an uncomfortable looking chair with ropes tied around the armrests and a heavy wardrobe built out of dark wood. The ropes were in a knot that obviously allowed the guards to pull it close around the wrists of whoever would sit on this chair.

"Sit down!"

Rolanda assumed that it was a better idea to follow his instructions rather than to disobey and have herself punished without knowing what would follow afterwards, in the actual interrogation – but whatever it was, she would surely need all her strength to get Alannah and herself through it.

Therefore, she obeyed and sat down, only to have the men tightening the ropes around her arms, causing her to feel even more uncomfortable.

"So, Miss Hooch. I assume you know that your parents were not found anywhere near your cottage or even the village of Waterhal at all on the evening you and your sister were taken into custody," the superior guard without a name started, staring down at her.

"Obviously," Rolanda murmured, not able to surpress this dry comment. "I really hope for you that you did not left any stains behind on the precious living room carpet. My mother would explode and kill you with her bare hands."

It would have been odd to really expect the man to grin or even laugh about her words, but still Rolanda felt a bit nervous as none of the guards showed any signs of amusement, their faces remaining unmoving masks.

"We hoped that you would be able to answer us a few questions concerning the whereabouts of your mother and father," the nameless superior guard explained, acting as if she had not said anything at all.

"Well, I see we both want something from each other, and it happens to be informations," Rolanda answered, seeing her chance to finally find answers to some of her questions. Even though she could not exactly tell them which town or port her parents had gone to, because she simply did not know it, she dared to take this small risk to try and trick these men for her own benefit.

"You hope to find out where my parents are, and I would like to hear from you why my sister and I were taken from our home and thrown into the dungeons, starving and freezing, without any proper clothes? As far as I am informed, our family never had anything to do with your King Severus, or whatever he may be called."

"You should better keep your tongue in check if you don't want to have it cut out of your mouth sooner or later, girl," the man threatened her and she feared that she could have gambled too high, that she had been just too daring with her demanding manner to speak with them, but to her surprise, the man started to elucidate:"On the same evening you were brought here, Prince Severus captained an attack on Blackdown stronghold. He overthrew his brother Quinn and took over the throne as the rightful new emperor of Ulidia. Immediately, King Severus did sent out his men to every part of the kingdom to find all the people who once betrayed him as he tried before to rescue Ulidia and its folk. Because there is no space in our beautiful kingdom for people who are not willing to give everything in order to preserve the glory of it."

Rolanda had to let his words sink in for a long moment before she was able to fully understand what they meant at all.

This new king had got himself onto the throne through murder, by killing his own brother and was now hunting down the people who had prevented him from attempting this coup earlier in the past. Also was he pretending to only have the best intentions for the kingdom and the folk...

'This does not sound suspicious at all,' Rolanda thought sarcastically, surpressing a weak laugh and a snide comment.

"And why is the name of my father on your list? He is a peace-loving man who never caused any harm to his fellows! Also, why should a simple merchant be important to the power of a king? This has to be an error, my parents are good people!" Rolanda exclaimed, concentrating on the problems that were closest to her at the moment – she could not care about a whole kingdom when she herself had so much on her plate.

"You do not seem to know your father as well as you may think, girl," the nameless grinned, his voice sounding more than deragatory as he continued, looking a little bit too triumphant for Rolanda's taste. "There really is enough on his record to justify our actions. Do you really think our noble king would have his men hunt down people without having his reasons for his orders? You should rather be ashamed of your family name, girl! Your own father is a enemy to our new monarch because of his deeds!"


	8. By Morning Light

I hope you all like it, please leave me a review :) I am always happy to read your opinions, guys, so don't be shy!

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8.

By Morning Light

Rolanda felt as if she had been hit right in the face by something heavy.

Shock was washing over her in stormy waves and for a period of time that seemed to be an eternity, she was not able to do anything. Her mind seemed to be wiped blank and she just stared into the air before she found her speech again, slowly sorting out the informations she had just received.

This was not possible – her father doing something bad?

No, they had to be lying... or maybe they just had different understandings of good and bad? It had to be like that – after all, this man was serving a "king" that had murdered his way to his crown...

It surely had to be something... something that they would have found offending and worthy for an action like this in their evil minds, while it was probably a very good deed for normal people.

"Your father denied our noble king the knowledge about his powers," the man explained, but he could just as good have spoken the words in the language of the Vikings – she did not have a clue what he was talking about. "And thus, he caused the plans our monarch had had back then unexecuteable. Within the second King Severus had the crown placed on his head, your father had committed high treason and therefore is searched as a traitor to crown and kingdom."

"That is ridiculous," Rolanda whispered, frantically shaking her head, not believing what she was hearing. He father had never possessed any remarkable powers, except for his impressive cake-vanishing skills. What could a simple merchant have for powers that could be so important to a want to be king would need, ones that seemed so essential to a plan that it failed because he did not wanted to help? She could not explain this to herself, it was a complete mystery to her.

It seemed like everything in this whole situation would only get more foggy instead of being sorted out by the answers the man had provided.

Every answer seemed to cause a dozen new questions to rise and her head was actually spinning by now. It was as if she was in an ocean, and those stormy waves were pulling her under.

"It is the truth. Now, you see our urgency to find your parents, and you and your sister were taken to the castle as our insurance, in case they should return to Waterhal. Also, as I mentioned, you surely know something about their whereabouts, girl," he explained, his face dead serious and in fact, Rolanda found it hard to continue to be skeptical about at least a few things. Her father had to have done _something_ , whatever it was, because a person of such a high position would normally not even know a little merchant. But what? What was this omnious power he had been talking about?!

It could not be gold, as they had just enough for a modest life in their small cottage, with some small luxuries from time to time, though Rolanda and Alannah had sometimes had to help out on one of the farms so they could earn some money if they wanted to buy something special.

Political power could be crossed out too, because her father had never really been interested to get involved into things like that. He had not even agreed to be a member of the small village council that allowed them to represent the village's interests.

Economical powers also weren't likely – he only had a small business that was just about supplying Waterhal and its two neighbouring villages with rare goods, mostly fruits, vegetables and soaps, that he bought in one of the port towns. And never had he been keen to expand his business so that it would reach more villages.

"I don't know to which town or port they went," Rolanda answered, her voice shaking, but as she saw the man's expression it was clear that he was not believing a word of what she was saying. His tone, though, was still relatively calm as he said:"Stop lying, girl. You want me to believe that your parents left you and your little sister alone at home, planning to stay away for longer and haven't told you exactly where they were going? What if something had happened, they surely gave you an adress to send a letter to in that case."

Rolanda shook her head, her heart racing in her chest as she realised that he had a point, even though she did not wanted to admit it.

"I... I, they knew our... our neighbours would take care of us if anything would go wrong," she mumbled weakly, feeling her level of nervousness rising again. How she disliked situations in which she had no control about what was happening and how she hated that she had absolutely no proof for her words.

"No caring parent would simply rely on the helpfulness of their neighbours. They have to have left you something, girl, and it would better for you to tell us! It would save you and your sister from a lot of pain!"

Once again, it was as if somebody had slapped her across the face. Immediately, Rolanda glared at the man, her wrists pressing against the ropes that were restraining her. Fury was rising inside of her, shoving the shock away.

"Leave her alone! I swear to all the gods on this world, I don't know where they are! She has nothing to do with this and she is even too young to fully understand all of this," she whispered, working hard to keep herself calm.

"Stop lying. For your own good, girl. I advise you, tell us the truth," the man said, as if he was not listening to her at all. "If you really want to keep your sweet little sister away from harm, you should really tell us what you know. Or... well, maybe we could help to loosen your tongue by... well, being a bit friendly with your sister."

If they had not tied her to the chair, Rolanda would have jumped at them right now. She released a scream of anger as she tried to free her arms from the ropes, tears of rage and helplessness running down her cheeks as she yelled:"Don't you dare to touch her, you filthy toe-rag! Keep your hands off her, she does not know anything, just question me... I swear I don't know everything, they just said that they were heading for the shore and that they would be back in a week! I don't know more, please, believe me!"

She may not be Alannah's mother, but when they were alone, Rolanda was just as good as a mother, and right now, she was acting like a lioness trying to defend her young.

Painful sobs were shaking her body by now and she did not know what to do any more. She was so afraid that they could make their threat true that she wished she had any valuable informations she could give to them. Never would she be able to bear it if they would hurt Alannah, just because she was unable to say anything. How she wished she had asked her father for details, and looking back, it really was a bit suspicious that they had not informed her about anything. They had trusted her with so much because they treated her like an adult, but still her parents had made a secret out of their destination.

"Oh, don't you worry... before we would do something to her, we would hurt you, girly," the man grinned while stepping forwards, running his fingers along Rolanda's jawline. She felt incredibly sick and she gave her last strength to whisper:"I don't know anything... I swear... I swear... I don't know where they are..."

But she knew that this would never be enough to convince them, and tears ran down her cheeks as the superior gestured his two soldiers to step forwards. Seconds later, the first fist was hitting her in the stomach, forcing all the air out of her body and she cried out loud, trying to compensate the pain.

"We will repeat this, girly, until you find your memory back," the superior explained with a loud voice so she could hear him clearly over her own screams of pain. The next blow was coming from a flat hand that hit her cheekbone, causing her smooth skin to burn and turn red.

After the third hit, the salty tears rolling down her face and onto her lips mixed with the metallic taste of blood as her lip did split. When she felt the fifth hit, she had already given up to scream loudly, as she realised that screaming would not keep them from hurting her – it was only making her situation even more humiliating because they were laughing about her whenever she did cry out loudly.

She just hoped that they would stop soon.

On the other side of the castle, far away from the agony Rolanda was experiencing, the new monarch of Ulidia was slowly waking up in his comfortable, warm bed.

The sun was shining brightly through the half-opened curtains, blinding the king as he opened his lids a little bit.

A groan escaped him as he became aware of the horrible headache that was pounding inside of his skull. For him, it was way too early in the morning to wake up after a feast, and the fog clouding his mind, caused by too much wine and mead, was making it hard to think straight. All he wanted was to fall back asleep and only wake up again when this hangover had faded away.

But unfortunately, it seemed like he would be denied this opportunity. Though he closed his eyes again and snuggled into his blankets again, he was not able to pass away into the land of dreams – behind his back, he could hear a constant sobbing, and it was simply distracting him.

Cursing about the pain in his head and also the slight cramps in his stomach, he sat up and turned his head.

Lying next to him in the big bed, curled up in a fetal position, was the blonde woman who had danced at the feast the previous evening. She was crying, trying to be silent, but still her sobs were loud enough to enrage him.

Her obvious distress did not move his heart, not even in the slightest, on the contrary, he was outrightly annoyed. Asking himself why he had choosen her to be brought to his bed at all, he glared at her, only causing her to cry even louder, hiding her face in the pillow.

The last night had not brought him the pleasure and satisfaction he had been searching for, it had been as if his mind had been absent throughout. Throughout forcing the girl to sleep with him, he had realised that she was not the one he had been longing for while watching her dance.

He had started to see the viking girl and not the real object of his desire, and right now he was asking himself where he had seen the resemblance between the slave girl and the beautiful mystical woman with the golden eyes.

It was clear to him that it was not a good sign that he could barely take his thoughts away from this woman, and that he was driven into actions because he was halluzinating about seeing her, about possessing her, making her his. This was not healthy, and was definitely not helping him on his way to greater powers.

But still, he wanted her.

He wanted to know her name, he wanted to look into these eyes again and find out what it was about her that was drawing him towards her. For now, he just knew that she could not forget her, and that this was only because of the faint magic he had thought to have sensed to waft around her spirit.

He wanted to memorise every little bit of her face, so did not have to limit himself to think of her golden eyes... He wanted to feel her skin, and if her spirit really was full of magic.

Trying to draw his thoughts away from her again, he concentrated himself on the crying girl next to him and within a second, he lost the patience he may never have had on a morning like this:"Get up! Leave! Leave my sight, immediately!"

The girl wailed, her face contorted into a ugly grimace as she jumped out of the bed, totally naked, and grabbed the remainders of her dress that had been lying on the floor. As fast as her legs would carry her, she ran out of the king's chambers, her sobs resounding from the stone walls of the hallways.

Severus let himself fall back into his pillows with a relieved sigh, shoving his black hair out of his face before closing his eyes and falling asleep immediately.

In his dreams, he was chasing a beautiful white swan with golden eyes along the shoreline of a crystal blue ocean, but whenever he thought he could reach out and grasp it by its feathers, it opened its wings and flew out of reach. These actions repeated a few times before the swan suddenly raced towards him, and something sharp was hitting his throat, causing him to gasp in pain. He fell to his hands and knees, feeling how hot blood was pooling from his main artery, and as he stared at the waves that were gently washing around his wrists, he saw his own reflection.

Staring at it in shock, he saw himself, not as a human, but as a black swan, a golden crown on his head and he was dying, killed by the white swan who was circling slowly above his head, singing a heavenly melody that sounded oddly human for a swan.

Panting violently, Severus suddenly sat upright in his bed, sweat covering his skin as he tried to calm himself down.


	9. Hear About The Changing World

Thanks for all the nice reviews! :)

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9.

Hear About The Changing World

After jerking awake because of his slightly disturbing nightmare, King Severus tried to fall asleep again, but after about an hour, he gave up on trying it.

Feeling grumpy and less rested than before falling asleep for the second time on this morning, he screamed for a servant to prepare a bath for him.

Impatiently, he paced the room while a few servants carried in buckets full of warm water and a tray with a variety of differently smelling soaps. As soon as they had filled his bathing tub, he ordered them to leave him alone.

Undressing hastily, he picked a soap with honey and milk from the tray and placed it on the small wooden table standing next to the big tub. He released a relieved sigh as he climbed into the warm water and layed down, feeling how his muscles relaxed and the layer of sweat that had covered his skin was slowly fading.

It took a few minutes until the alcohol induced fog in his mind cleared away, but as it did, he at least felt better physically. His thoughts were still in an uproar, even though he was already trying hard to calm himself down. Deeply inhaling the scent of the soap he used to rinse his skin, he tried to shove the images of his dream away, but still an uncomfortable feeling stayed behind, lingering in the back of his mind.

The water had cooled down a lot when he finally climbed out of the bathing tub and dried himself up with a wool towel before he dressed himself.

In the throne hall, another mahagony table had been placed, so the king could have all his maps closest to the symbol of his power, the throne of Ulidia.

Unfortunately for him, the bath had backfired a bit – the moment he had been able to relax, the memories of the last night had come back again, and with it all the disappointment about himself. How could he, who normally had a splendid control over his mind, allow a woman, who he had barely seen for a few seconds in his entire life, to invade and influence his thoughts? She was throwing him into a different kind of chaos, one of which he was not the master. While he should concentrate his mind on his plans for the kingdom, he could only think of her and mull about what he had imagined to feel about her.

He was extremely frustrated by now, and due to this his mood and behaviour towards everyone around had worsened even more. Letting out his frustration on the servants as they served him his breakfast, he screamed at them for being too slow, for not showing enough devotion towards him upon entering the throne hall, for not having strawberries on the plate of fruits, even though he knew fully well that strawberry season was over by now.

But well, being the king gave one the benefit of being allowed to scream at people randomly, he thought sarcastically as he took a sip of his tea. Also, he could not deny that he kind of enjoyed to see their scared faces when he threw a tantrum along with a goblet full of milk that was not hot enough and did not have enough sweetness due to too little honey.

Until noon, he haltingly worked on a possible attack scenario on the neighbouring kingdom Airgialla, having to stop from time to time because his mind kept wandering away, as if his whole spirit was searching for these golden eyes and the hint of magic they had left behind.

Surely his servants must have wondered why their king was staring at his map, only to slam a palm down on the tabletop a few seconds later, cursing loudly while starting to pace in front of the table, glaring into the room.

Before the servants were ready to dish the lunch, Ronan entered the throne hall. Obviously he had already heard about the moods of their master, because when he approached the king, he made sure that he bowed as deeply as possible, watching every single one of his steps carefully.

Severus was just pacing yet again as he saw Ronan approaching him, trying to ban these wicked, enchating eyes from his thoughts, but for a short second he seriously thought about sending Ronan through he whole castle to search for the woman with the golden eyes. All he wanted was for her to stop distracting him from the really important things in his life...

But immediately, he wiped this idea away – chances were that he would be able to forget her if he never got to see her again, but if he had Ronan find her to have her brought to him – there surely only were a few worse faults he could make. The woman already was enough of a distraction and he did not wanted to imagine what would happen if he had her close to him.

"Ronan. What brings you here?" He asked and ran one hand through his black hair, realising that he had obviously forgotten to place his crown on his head.

Though he was already enjoying all the power he had, he still had to get used to really making a symbol of this power out of him. A king had to be representive, but he, he had been standing in the back rows for all his life. It had always been clear that he would never have any important position in the monarchy, while Quinn had been prepared for the throne since his birth.

Severus hurried to fetch his crown from the crimson velvet pillow it was placed on, right beside the throne, and placed it on his head.

Ronan had waited respectfully until his king was prepared properly before he explained:"I thought you might like to hear about the new tidings the messengers brought. Just... just so you are up to date..."

"Yes, speak," Severus demanded, nodding at Ronan while saving his precious maps and blueprints from the plates the servants were carrying in, obeying to the order he had given them earlier, to have everything, from meals to meetings, take place in his throne hall.

"Speak, Ronan, tell me which ones of my enemies will never cross my plans again and how far our troops have come."

"My king, our men have reached the coastal towns nearest to the valley by now, and have searched them. The treasures they found are being brought back, and the merchant ships are secured, nobody will be able to leave the port without our permission. Unfortunately, it could be possible that some of the men searched for as traitors were able to escape via ship before the troops reached the towns. But still, we were able to capture some of your enemies, my king, and they were executed on the spot. Meanwhile, the men you selected took over the political control over the towns and ports and are executing your orders. They are giving their very best, though they had to cast down some minor uproars."

He looked extremely cautios, as if he expected the king to get aggressive again upon hearing that it was very likely that some of his enemies had escaped and that his control over some parts of the kingdom was not as steady as he wished. News or suspicions could travel fast sometimes, and the smoke from the villages in the valley had surely been an indication that something was wrong.

Informants had also told them that Severus' strongest opponents had heard rumours about his plans to attack Blackdown Stronghold and King Quinn, and from that day on, they certainly had started to prepare for a scenario like this. A few lookouts and some fast riding messengers really could have been enough for them to be alerted and make an escape.

To his surprise, though, Severus only nodded calmly, expressing that he had understood before he seemed to sink into his thoughts for a moment. He could not bother about the people that had escaped, or better, he could not bother about the most of them, as at least the half of them surely only were small fishes in the pond. What he did bother about though were the big ones in the pond, those who were really important to him.

Those who had the powers he had tried to possess... and had denied to teach him. He had been able to learn them anyway, but the path he had been forced to go down for it had been a lot longer and a lot more difficult. It had taken him several years more to reach the point of skill and knowledge he was at now. Years that had been taken from his great plans, he had been forced to modify all his ideas as the tides in neighbouring kingdoms changed, his perfect occasion for taking over the reign ruined.

Also, these men were strong, charismatic leaders, just as his brother Quinn, and some of them even had known connections to Niall, Lorcan and Fianna. Niall was out of the way, of course, but he knew that this was not enough.

They still were able to form a strong opposition, and their alliance would surely have no problems to gather followers, unless he was able to kill off enough of the strongest ones, so that the whole organisation would be weakened. Fear and a sharp sword were supposed to be his strongest weapons in his fight against these threats. As soon as the normal folk would see that even the most hopeful figures of a rebellion were not able to escape his grasp, they would think twice about openly opposing against him. They would have no choice but to follow him if they wanted to live and protect their families.

And Lorcan and Fianna and their most loyal followers, they would stand alone, stripped off the support they needed to fight against him. There would be no secret weapons, they would have no hope left, and all they would be able to do was flee from Ulidia or surrender to him, hoping that he would show mercy and would kill them immediately, in the courtyard of the castle without many witnesses. But well, maybe he would decide for something else, a way that would give him way more satisfaction and also repayment for the years he had been forced to live in a poor, inhuman exile.

Yes, maybe there would be a big execution with hundreds of spectators to watch how his siblings and their people were humiliated before the executioner would bring an end to their lives.

However he had also thought about the possibility to make them his slaves. Their tongues cut out, they would be robbed off the power of the word, and after some conditioning, they would never be a harm to him and his plans again...

But first, there were other things to take care of. Before the executions, he had to have the traitors in the custody of his men, and by now, he did not have any of those men who were important.

"What about Hooch?" the king asked, hoping to finally hear some good news about this man, but the shocked expression on Ronan's face and the way he hesitated and did bite his lip told him that he would be disappointed yet again.

"He... he has not been found yet, my king...," Ronan admitted, his eyes fixed on the stone floor, his muscles tense in nervousness. "It... it could be that... maybe... well, maybe he sailed away on a ship and..."

And he really did not have to wait long for the explosion. A cry of fury escaped the king's lips and he wiped the maps off the tabletop in anger.

"What kind of dumbheads did I hire, Ronan?! It can not be that difficult to find this man and bring him here! There as to be some kind of a damned trace!" Severus screamed, and Ronan stepped backwards. "I want him here, as fast as possible, and I want to kill him myself!"

"But, your highness, remember, we still have his daughters in our custody..."

"And?! Did you get anything from them?!" Severus snapped, making one of the servants, who carried in his lunch, jump in shock.

"I... I ordered to have her questioned in this moment, but they were not able to get any informations out of her yet," Ronan answered, gulping hard.

"Then make her sing!" the king demanded loudly, grabbing a plate of fruits from the hands of a servant that just walked by and threw it against the wall that was closest to him.

Ronan stared at him with wide eyes before hurrying to leave his king alone, fearing any punishments.

Severus turned around, letting his gaze wander over the plates and bowls with food, trying to calm himself down. Sometimes he felt like he was surrounded only by incapable and incompetent idiots who were not able to follow even the most simpliest instructions.

It seemed to start with his breakfast, continued with the horribly smelling wheat mash spiced with rosemary he detested but still the cook continued to prepare it, and ended with the soldiers who were unable to find Hooch. Well, and also with the men in the castle who were not able to properly question a girl to get any informations about someone they were desperately searching for.

Delegating tasks was obviously not as good as he had always thought and he felt burdened by having to wait until others were successful.

He just hoped that his men would finally be able to get some results, or he, the king, would be forced to take matters into his own hands.


	10. Take Matters Into Your Own Hands

Oh my, did let this down a little bit... Hopefully I will be able to catch up, this chapter was not as long as I wanted, but hopefully the next ones will be :) Nearly am at the halfway point!

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10.

Take Matters Into Your Own Hands

In the late afternoon, the soldiers brought, or rather half carried, Rolanda back to her cell down in the dungeons.

Upon seeing her coming towards the cell, Alannah jumped to her feet, her eyes watering.

Alannah was sobbing out of relief, shock and careful happiness as the guards literally threw Rolanda onto the haystack and left the cell, locking the two sisters in again.

The younger girl slung her arms around her older sister, embracing her, overwhelmed by her feelings, so tightly that Rolanda released a hiss of pain.

"Are you okay?" Alannah asked in a concerned tone, wiping the salty teardrops off her cheeks with the sleeve of her nightgown after releasing her sister. Rolanda forced a smile onto her lips and nodded, ruffling through her sister's blonde hair, answering:"Yes, little bird, everything is fine. They just wanted to talk to me and asked some questions... I am alright."

Of course, she was not okay – pain was throbbing through her whole body, spreading especially from her head and her ribcage. She did not know how seriously they had injured her during beating her up, but at least she could tell relatively sure that they had not broken any bones – at the age of five, she had been climbing up an apple tree in the meadow, one of the branches she had been holding on to had snapped and small Rolanda had learnt that things that go up are bound to go done again.

The big height she had already reached before the branch had given in and the hard ground had taught her how much a broken arm and several broken rips could hurt.

Therefore, she was pretty positive that her bones were unharmed right now, but nonetheless it did hurt like hell to move.

Alannah scowled, looking sceptically and a little bit hurt as she remarked:"Don't lie to me, Ro. You are bleeding. What happened up there, what did they do to you?"

She reached up and carefully wiped over Rolanda's split lip, once again tears were showing in her beautiful, innocent blue eyes.

In this moment, Rolanda realised that Alannah was probably understanding more of what was going on in this place than she showed, or at least she was thinking about everything more closely – her sweet, kind Alannah was slowly growing up, no matter how much Rolanda wished that she would stay so young that she would always be oblivious about all the bad things that were happening in the world.

Still, she found that it would be better not to tell her anything about the things the men had said about their father during the interrogation. She was not even sure if they had said the truth, or how much they were exaggerating, and she did not wanted to give Alannah even more to worry about.

But at least she should be honest to Alannah about what was happening during the interrogation, as there was no way she could be able to hide things as bruises from her sister.

"They were a bit rough towards me," she admitted with a sigh, taking their water jug from Alannah's hands with a thankful nod as she offered it to her. "Because they were not fully believing me that I was telling the truth when I said that mother and father did not tell us where they were going."

After a few gulps of water, her throat, feeling a little bit dry and raspy from screaming, functioned a bit better and she embraced Alannah gently, being more than glad to have her in her arms right now.

The men had been forced to stop as they had registered that she was very close to passing out – but they had assured her that they would see each other again soon, causing her to feel sick about the mere thought and also because of their breaths smelling of stale beer. The threat really had scared her a lot and she was not exactly looking forward to meet them again and serve as the grain bag they could punch, but at least she knew that they would not come and take Alannah. At least not for now, at least not as long as they believed Rolanda knew something.

As she had time to calm down and think about everything without being pressured to make a confession of some sorts, she tried to dig deep into her memory to find _anything_ that could help Alannah and her in this miserable situation.

If she had a choice, she would never betray their parents by revealing their location – but right now, with their lives on the verge, there was no other option.

Surely their parents would forgive them due to the given circumstances and therefore, she desperately tried to remember something, anything that could be useful for them. She was feeling positive that even the tiniest bit of information would be able to buy the two of them a little bit more time.

"But they have to believe you... they can not ask you the same questions about mother and father again and again," Alannah whispered, snuggling against Rolanda who smiled sadly.

"I fear they can – I have no proof that I am telling the truth," Rolanda sighed, holding her little sister as tight as she could without making her rips ache.

Suddenly, there was an uproar in the corridor between the cells – the soldiers that were on guard duty stormed past their cell, answering to the loud and shocked call of one of their comrades.

The two sisters could hear them curse as their footsteps stopped, not far away from their own cell, then all conversation between the men died down. A ripping sound, like the one of fabric being cut apart roughly, reached their ears, and then they heard a body hitting the floor.

"Strangled herself... You, report this to the captain and you two will bring her upstairs to have her burried," one of the men ordered, and Rolanda's heart was beating faster, asking herself who they were talking about. She had been too busy with Alannah and herself to inform herself who was locked into the cells next to them.

But just moments later, two guards walked past their cell, carrying a limb body in their midst. Rolanda stretched her neck to catch a glimpse of the person's identity, only to turn her head away in shock.

Pale skin, dark red messy locks...

It was Aurora.

A wave of sorrow hit Rolanda as she realised that she had not dreamt what she had seen only a few seconds ago. Her childhood friend was dead, had committed suicide in her cell, probably because she had not been able to handle the pain and the grief about her husband's death.

Gulping hard, she held Alannah even tighter, now ignoring the pain in her chest, sobbing silently against her sister's temple. She hoped that the two lovers would be reunited wherever the human soul might be going after death. In any case, it surely was a better place than these dungeons.

oOo

In the early evening, Ronan did lead the men who were responsible for everseeing the interrogations into the throne hall. King Severus had demanded that they would give him a recent report about their work, and of course nobody dared to stay away, no matter how unsuccessful they had been so far.

The king looked impatient as he watched the men enter, his fingertips drumming onto the wood of the armrest of the throne. It was clear to everyone that he awaited only satisfying news, and more than one man was nervous, fearing that their reports would be the opposite of what he expected.

"Were you able to get any informations out of Hooch's daughter? Did she tell you where her father is?!" he asked, waving dismissively as the men bowed in front of him, some of them staring at the floor, not daring to look up at their master.

"My king, she claims that her parents left their cottage without exactly telling her where they were going. Therefore, I have to admit that we were not able to get any useful informations so far," the man who had questioned Rolanda earlier confessed, his head too being held low in regret and devotion. His hand was trembing slightly.

"And you dare to come to your king and tell him that you failed?!"

His face contorted in fury, the king rose from his throne, glaring at the man, causing him to shake even more, especially as he suddenly started to scream accusingly:"Do you want to sabotage me?! I gave you a simple task, and you failed! As you seem to be able to meet my wishes, I will take matters into my own hands so everything will be done properly!"

"Your... your highness, don't... uhm, don't you think that you may be a little bit too impatient? I mean, we only... only worked with her for a few hours, and... well...," the man stuttered, stepping forward carefully, obviously hoping that King Severus would understand him if he only gave a reasonable explanation.

Severus was dumbfounded for a second, then his anger returned with full force as he hissed dangerously:"Are you seriously questioning the orders your king is giving you?!"

"N-no!" the man tried to defend himself, a terrified expression on his face as Ronan grabbed him by the arm. "I just meant to..."

"Enough! Get him out of my sight, and punish him properly for his presumptuous behaviour!" Severus ordered, and the man's eyes widened in shock as Ronan shoved him towards two soldiers, knowing fully well that the lash would await him. He tried to beg his king for mercy, but Severus hard face suffocated every possible attempt in the bud. The soldiers guided the man through the rows of servants that were carrying plates into the throne hall, about to serve the king his dinner.

"And Ronan, I want Hooch's daughter up here! Immediately!"


	11. See The Hidden

… still trying to get back to the original length :/ Any advise?

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11.

See The Hidden

Rolanda and Alannah had been crying over Aurora's sudden death for the last few hours, holding on to each other as if they could see each other for the last time in their lives. Loss seemed to be painfully closer to them than they had thought.

Exhausted both physically and emotionally, hungry and feeling cold once again, they snuggled under their excuse of a blanket and tried to get some sleep.

But suddenly, guards were storming into their cell, causing Alannah to release a scream of shock as they grabbed Rolanda, pulling her to her feet roughly.

The last Rolanda saw of her sister was a terrified expression as her older sister was ripped from her arms and dragged out of the cell.

"What are you doing?!" Rolanda asked, her heart beating fast in her chest as she tried to get her feet down onto the floor properly, but she was barely able to take a step as the men hurried through the corridor.

"We have orders to take you upstairs. Be silent now, or you will be punished," one of the guards answered bluntly, shoving her slightly. Rolanda nearly fell on the stairs as she was unable to hold the pace of the men, forcing them to slow down in order to prevent her from getting injured.

They left the staircase and led Rolanda through the hallway the room in which they had interrogated her was located at, and fear rose inside of Rolanda. What if they were going to question her again?! They had only stopped a few hours ago because of her condition and she had thought that they would wait until the next morning, ensuring that they would keep her able to talk.

She did not understand this, and she just hoped that she would come out of this room alive.

Assuming that they would make her stand still anyway to unlock the room, she stopped, but immediately one of the men grabbed her by the shoulder, growling:"Go on."

Unsure if she should be positively surprised and relieved about not being questioned or if she should fear that there were even worse things to come, she obeyed. They were climbing up more and more staircases, making their way through the castle. Every step did cause her a lot of pain by now, and her lung was feeling as if she had been running for hours. She tried to calm her breath down while she noticed that the castle seemed to be changing.

Everything looked cleaner, and the interior got more luxurious than everything she had ever seen in her life. Thick brocat curtains were hanging by the high windows that flooded the hallways with the golden evening light, oil-paintings in golden frames filled the walls, showing the faces of uncountable kings, queens and heroes of Ulidia. From time to time, servants crossed their path, carrying trays full with food or even clothes that looked more expensive than everything Rolanda had ever owned in her life – silk and velvet, embroidered with gold threads and pearls.

Her eyes wide in awe, even in this frightening situation, Rolanda asked herself who in this castle would wear these gowns – as far as she knew, Princess Fianna and her two brothers were out hunting in the woods during this time of the year. She had always been interested in their princess just as she had been in the female warriors that had been more common in her childhood days. Tales said that Fianna was just as fierce and talented with bow and sword as her brothers, and even though her father had found it inappropriate for a young princess to learn how to ride, fight and hunt like a man, he had eventually given in. Rolanda had always imagined that they must have a lot alike, the princess and her – the princess was only a few years older than her, and they both were not obeying to the normal conventions their society was dictating for women.

Suddenly, they stopped in front of some high, impressive oak doors that obviously marked the entrance to a fairly important room in this castle and Rolanda's heart was beating fast in nervousness and curiousity as they were slowly being opened by the two soldiers that had been standing in front of it.

Thinking closer about her whole surroundings, the rich interior and the army of servants and all the soldiers, dressed in perfectly fitting, stainless clothes, with polished armours and weapons, she assumed that she probably was about to meet this mysterious King Severus who had taken over the reign.

How was she supposed to behave herself towards him?! She did thoroughly disagree with his methods and regards, because, obviously, she and her family were on the wrong side of it, and she wanted him to know this, now as she had the opportunity to meet him. But, why did she get this questionable privilege at all?!

Her father could not be that important to him, couldn't he?!

Anyway, she really wanted to show this so called king that it was not justified to treat Alannah and her like this, but on the other hand, this could mean trouble. Surely the king would not tolerate any rebellious behaviour towards him, especially not from somebody who was completely at his mercy. Telling him that he seemed to have a mad mind and should have a healer looking over his soul probably was not the best idea.

Also, if she was at least respectful towards him, with hints of friendliness, she could have some chances to get some more informations about everything that was going on. Taking a deep breath, she started to walk into the room that seemed to be the throne hall.

oOo

Severus was still fuming inwardly about the incompetence of seemingly nearly everybody who was working in his service. He had believed that there would be some problems, of course, one had to calculate things like that in when formulating a plan, but he would never have thought that things would turn out so wrong that he would be forced to take matters into his own hands.

But well, that was the saying: If you want something to be done properly, you have to do it yourself.

Something a king should not be obliged to do, but now it was too late. Next time he would be smart enough to assign the task to Ronan – being his most loyal servant, he had much more competence and also knew which results would satisfy his master.

As the oak doors opened, Severus straightened his back so he sat upright on his throne, looking expectantly at the persons entering the throne hall.

Surprise struck him like a lightning bolt a tree during a thunderstorm, sudden and with full force as he recognised the woman that was being walked in, surrounded by soldiers.

It was the young woman from the courtyard, the one with the bewitching golden eyes who had not left his head since he had first seen her.

He had to concentrate himself to keep his neutral expression from sliding off his face as he felt his anger about his men fading, being replaced by surprise and something like delight.

Was it a mere coincidence that the woman who he had not been able to forget over the last days was indeed the daughter of the men who was, behind his siblings, number three on the list of the most searched people in his new kingdom.

As she came closer to him, he took in her appearance – like on the day of her arrival, she was only wearing a white nightgown, which was dirty from the time she had spent down in the dungeons, just as her bare feet.

Her long, platinum blonde hair was disheveled and looked as if she had tried to keep it at least a little bit tidy by combing it with her fingers.

Bruises, obviously from the interrogations earlier this day, were just starting to show on her face, only pale, but still visible, and she had a split lip.

She looked way out of place in the throne hall, a pitiable being surrounded by rich furniture, but still he could see her beauty behind all the dirt and untidy hair. Of course her eyes were the biggest hint, but he also found that her lips, though injured slightly, looked compelling in their own way, delicate, full, rosy, softly shaped...

Their eyes met, and he felt this odd feeling again, the same one that he had noticed when they had first looked at each other.

This time, though, he was more than certain about what he was feeling. They were considerably closer today than they had been back then, and now, he could feel it clearly, and also see it in her golden eyes – maybe not entirely obvious, but still visible for the trained eye.

Magic.

It was a familiar, warm feeling that pulsed through the air between them, and he felt his own magic stretching towards hers, embracing it. He could feel it, but he could not evaluate how strong it was, as it was currently in a calm condition, resting inside of the young womans soul, untouched, unused, undiscovered. She obviously was not aware of the skills she possessed, obviously having inherited them from her father, and this was waking his interest – her father's powers already were very strong, and he somehow felt curious about how much of his strength she had inside of her herself.


	12. A Dangerous Mind

Okay, they finally met XD What did you think of the first part of the scene? The second half will hopefully be even better, at least the bits that I have in mind are pretty good :)

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12.

A Dangerous Mind

Rolanda felt odd as she came to stop a few metres away from the throne, her eyes taking in a surprisingly familiar picture – the man sitting up there was the same one who had looked down from the balcony above the courtyard on the day Alannah and her at arrived at the castle. The same one who had caused this strange feeling inside of her, and now, as they were closer, she could at least describe it – it was as if she felt drawn towards him, though not in some romantic way. It was more magnetic, and felt rather natural, despite it being odd and seemingly having no reason at all.

And as if that was not enough already, she was also feeling extremely afraid what was coming, and also nervous – his whole dark appearance was rather intimidating. She just did try to not show how uncomfortable she felt, though this was hard as his constant stare of curiousity was just intensifying everything.

A man, deductible from his clothing he was inheriting a pretty high position on court, stepped closer and growled darkly:"Bow."

Rolanda gulped, and obeyed, lowering her head in something she hoped would look like a respectful gesture. She felt horribly exposed in her nightgown, even though its thin material was covering her whole body, and she wished that they would have bothered to hand her some clothes that were just a tiny bit closer to being appropriate for a visit in the throne hall. Because even though she she stood in front of a king who she thought was cruel and had no right to be in this position, she would still have preferred to look decent.

She had not had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of her own reflection since the night they had been taken from their cottage, but she was pretty sure that she must look rather miserable, as she had not been able to wash herself properly since their arrival. Down in the dungeons, one preferred to drink the little water they provided the prisoners with instead of trying to look as if they had just stepped out of the bathing tub.

The fact that the king was simply staring at her, not even having acknowledged her presence with a gesture, was causing her to shuffle from one bare foot to the other. She just wanted to start and look around the throne hall, interested in discovering even more of the riches that were decorating this room, but in that same moment the king ultimately reacted.

It looked like he was emerging from the depths of his thoughts, breaking through the surface like someone who had just jumped into a lake and was now coming up to take a breath.

"Thank you, you may go," he told the soldiers in a calm voice that sounded as if he was never giving anything of his thoughts or feelings away. He slowly stood up from his throne and casually said:"Miss Hooch. What a pleasure to meet you. May I ask about your forename?"

Rolanda moved her lips, but she found herself unable to make a sound, feeling a little bit overwhelmed by the whole situation. The one man that had stayed behind stepped forwards slightly and answered in her place:"It is Rolanda, your highness. Her younger sister's name is Alannah."

"Thank you, Ronan."

The king had therewhile reached the incredibly large dining table that was standing in front of the windows. Servants were lighting the torches that were sticking in iron handles on the walls, and also the candles on the table were lit as the sun was vanishing behind the horizon and the moon took over its place on the sky.

Huge plates with freshly grilled meat, cooked vegetables, fried and cooked eggs and fruits were covering the table, just as bowls with mash of different grains and soups and also huge jugs of wine and warm mead. Everything looked simply delicious and it was a meal that could have been worthy a high holiday or a guest who was at least a prince.

Severus sat down on a chair elegantly and gestured over the table and all its contents, whose heavenly smells were filling the air, invading Rolanda's nostrils.

"Sit down, Rolanda," he offered politely, nearly friendly, but she did not dare to move, fearing that it could be a trick of his to let her make a mistake that justified some sort of punishment. The man King Severus had called Ronan was pushing her forwards, gently but certain, and so she gulped and sat down on one of the comfortable chairs to the king's right side, barely daring to even touch the table.

"Would you like to have a drink? Or maybe something to eat? Choose anything from my dinner table, Rolanda. It is enough for both of us," Severus chattered, taking a red, juicy looking grape from the plate to his left and popped it into his mouth before taking a sip of the wine a servant had just poured into his richly decorated golden goblet.

When she had realised that she was truly being brought to the king, Rolanda had really expected everything, from a simple interrogation over torture to a death sentence, but she certainly had not thought of the possibility that she would be sitting at the king's dinner table with him. Let alone being offered to eat the same food as him, the food that was only supposed to be eaten by the king himself and some royal guests of him.

These circumstances made her feel more than suspicious and she hesitantly answered, her voice being a little bit quieter than she intended:"I... I don't want anything, but thank you... your highness."

"Why not? It is delicious, especially the deer," the king wondered, pointing at the plate with the huge piece of meat that looked extremely mouth-watering on its bed of wild herbs and carrots, but she still did not dare to believe that he was actually serious about eating with him.

"I... I am not really hungry...," she answered, trying not to stare too longingly at the plates full of delicacies. Though she had told King Severus that she was not hungry, she really was extremely hungry – her stomach was churning and the emptiness of it was painful. They had not had their ration of bread yet when the soldiers had come back to take her, and with the small amounts of food provided one got hungry again pretty fast.

She wished she could have sunk her teeth into the next piece of meat, filling her stomach until she could not move any more, but she still could not believe that she really was offered all of this after being on the edge to starving for the last days.

Something about this situation was just not feeling right – his friendliness was disturbing, especially when she thought of what she had seen and experienced in Waterhal and in the castle. This man was capable of giving the cruelest orders, he was responsible for the deaths of some of her oldest friends and neighbours, but still he was sitting here, chatting with her as if they had met for this friendly dinner to have some nice conversation.

"If you should change your mind, feel free to serve yourself, Rolanda," he said, ripping a big chunk of bread from a loaf and dipped it into a sauce made of parsley. After he finished chewing, he casually asked:"So, your parents are merchants?"

Rolanda nodded, her fingers trembling as she hesitantly reached for a grape, as if Ronan could step forwards and attack her if she tried to eat it.

"When I met your father for the first time, he was not selling rare every day goods... Can not understand why he changed his business, but as long as he is happy with it..."

Rolanda did not know what he was talking about - for as long as she could think, her father had sold the same type of goods, only changing it because of the seasons. And King Severus did not really look much older than her, maybe about five years... Things just seemed to become even more mysterious, but she did not have the courage to ask him any of the questions that were burning on her tongue since this afternoon.

A servant placed a goblet made of thin wood next to Rolanda and poured some water into it. Severus nodded at the man, who immediately left again and continued to speak:"So, I heard that they had gone on a trip and left you two alone at home. I admit, Rolanda, I am really interested in where they went and I asked myself if you could tell me something about it."

Rolanda had only been waiting for this moment – the one in which he truly admitted why he had ordered his men to bring her up here. Though she asked herself why he was asking her the same questions as his men had done just earlier this day. Were they expecting that she would give him different answers, only because of a more friendly tone and the offer of a nice dinner?

Rolanda took a deep breath, summoned all her courage and answered:"Your highness, I already told this to your men who interrogated me, and I am more than willing to say it again for you: I really don't know where they have gone, they haven't told me anything! I know that this sounds unlikely, but it is the truth, I swear."

Inwardly, she was just praying that he would finally be the person who believed that she was telling them the truth, that she had no reason to lie to them – the simply had to see that she would never willingly endanger Alannah only to keep a secret from them!

Severus took a big gulp from his goblet, never looking away from her with his thoughful gaze and he looked frighteningly peaceful as he said:"I heard your sister is still very young... Sweet, little Alannah... what a pity it would be if anything happened to her."


	13. Toying With Your Fears

Wohoo, chapter 13... I hope you all still like it :)

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13.

Toying With Your Fears

Rolanda stared at him, hearing her blood rush inside of her head, her breathing rigge and hurting against her aching rips.

There it was again, the one threat that frightened her the most. She would not care if he said that he would hurt her, or that he would kill her – but that he told her that he would hurt Alannah was still giving her chills, even though she had heard it before.

Once again, her fear triggered her massive protective instincts, and this time, there were no ropes that were holding her back.

Acting before properly thinking about what she was about to do, she jumped to her feet and lunged forwards, literally trying to jump at King Severus who simply stared at her, his black eyes wide in surprise.

Had Ronan not reacted as quickly as he had, Rolanda would have been able to reach the king – and her hands were nearly exactly on the level of his throat.

"You! If you dare to touch her! She is just a innocent young girl!"

Rolanda released a scream of pure rage and loathing as Ronans strong arms wrapped around her body and he pulled her backwards, away from the king, ignoring how much the young woman was thrashing within his hold, her legs kicking and her arms barely missing his face.

The two were struggling with each other, against the other one, and for a short moment it even looked like Rolanda would be able to break free. But then, Ronan managed to position his knee and one elbow just right, forcing the young woman to bend forwards. Though he was constantly gaining control, she was still fighting against him like a lioness, not willing to give up too easily.

As Ronan tried to press her down onto the tabletop, they sent plates flying off the table, crashing onto the stone floor with loud noises and spilling their contents so they rolled through the room. A jug of wine broke, and another one, filled with mead, fell over, the golden liquid pouring over the wooden tabletop.

Only as her ribs were painfully pressed against the wood, Rolanda gave up and her body went limp, her wincing slightly. Both Ronan and her were breathing heavily and from the sound Ronan released she deducted that he had not thought that she would be capable of such strong kinds of resistance.

Severus himself was still only staring at her, though by now a small smile had appeared on his face.

He too had not thought that there were such powers hidden inside this slender body, and her sudden attack had left him speechless.

After the first moment of surprise, though, he had relished in seeing how Rolanda's temper broke free.

Additionally, he had seen something in her eyes in that moment – her magic had flashed through these golden irises during her fierce fight against Ronan.

It had looked stronger than everything he had ever seen before, it actually had crackled in the air around her during her outburst, and while observing her, a spontaneous thought formed in his mind, a plan, and it sounded so easy to him.

Opening completely new perspectives to him, it seemed to offer the solution to one of his major problems at the moment and he was barely able to hide his excitement.

He had to remind himself that he would have to be subtle and careful – rushing through things would only have negative effects on his new idea.

Slowly, taking his time as he saw how tense Rolanda looked, shivering out of anger while also fearing a punishment, Severus stood up from his chair, his intense gaze fixed on the young woman.

"I have a offer for you. A way to keep your beloved sister away and safe from harm," he said, sounding as politely as he had previous to her outburst – he was acting as if she had never tried to attack him.

Rolanda closed her eyes to hide that she was actually rolling them, took a few deep breaths and hissed:"I can't tell you anything I don't know anything about!"

Severus smiled calmly and calculative as he continued:"Oh, it is something you will be capable of doing, Rolanda, I assure you! There is a way to keep all the violence and the dozens of disgustingly hungry and primitive men away from the sweet girl, she will always stay as innocent as she was before she came here."

She did not miss the slightly cold facette in his voice, and she asked herself if she really wanted to hear his offer. Gulping hard, she was sure that it would not be a small price to pay for her sister's safety. Shivers were running down her spine as she tried not to imagine all the horrible things that could happen to Alannah - the world was full of ruthless and violent men who were not recoiling from doing the worst crimes, not even to young girls like Alannah.

"What... what do you have in mind? What are your conditions?" She asked carefully, her fingers trembling as she waited for his answer. The king actually started to grin, making her feel uncomfortable as he answered:"Become my personal servant, read every wish from my lips and do everything to please me and keep you on my good side, and your sister will always have enough food and water and warm clothes until we have found your parents. On that day, I will order my men to release Alannah, and you too if you behaved yourself well."

Once again, and for the second time during this evening, the opposite things of what Rolanda had expected were happening, and this offer was just making no sense to her.

Actually, it shocked her a little bit that he wanted her to be his servant – he did not need her, he obviously had all the servants he needed, all knowing fully well what their job was and how they were supposed to behave in front of their king, how they could please his highness and what his expectations were.

But still, he made her an offer that she simply could not deny because of Alannah's safety. It really seemed like he was calculating with her protective instincts, but she could not understand why he would do such a thing – why he would ask her to be his personal maid in return for sparing her sister.

"I... why?" Rolanda stuttered, trying to voice her thoughts properly, but she was barely able to do so – she was simply too stunned.

"Fortunately, a king does not have to explain his plans to anybody that asks, he is bound to nobody," Severus answered, his face turning into an unmoving mask. "So, what is your answer? Do you accept my offer, or not?"

Biting her lower lip, though it did hurt as it was already injured, she tried to prevent herself from saying something about how he was obviously leaving her no choice, she nodded, looking down at the floor so he could not see the tears that were filling her eyes.

She twitched as King Severus clapped his hands once and gestured at Ronan while speaking:"Good, what a wise choice of yours!"

Ronan stepped forwards and bowed as his king ordered:"Ronan, summon some maids to have my new servant cleaned up in a good bath and have her dressed properly."

His most loyal servant nodded courtly, his face showing off how surprised he himself was about his master's decision as he grabbed Rolanda by the elbow and led her out of the throne hall.

Severus smiled triumphantly to himself as he sat down again and resumed to eat his dinner by helping himself to a nice piece of deer. He could not wait to find out how much of her father's magic Rolanda Hooch had inside of her, and see how much he could benefit from it.

One thing was already clear to him by now – Rolanda Hooch was not a ordinary woman, no, she was more daring and fierce and temperamentally as any other woman of her age he had met before. He was sure that she was the only one who had enough courage to actually try and defend herself against people about who she already knew that they were way stronger than she was, and that she had tried nonetheless.

Of course he could not say this for sure, but he felt like her magic, even though she herself did not even seem to know anything about it, was giving her a inner strength. Also, this temperament – it was common for many people who were capable of performing magic. Magic itself, so it seemed to him, had a personality of its own, and sometimes it broke out.

Oh, he really was curious about the next days that were to come.


	14. Beautification

And, here is the next one! I am always looking forward to your reviews :)

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14.

Beautification

Rolanda's head was still spinning as Ronan led her out of the throne hall, away from this now even more mysterious and whimsical King Severus, still having found no answers to all the questions that were swirling around in her mind. She wished she could have asked Ronan if he knew what this was all about, but the man still looked a bit baffled himself, showing clearly that he had no idea why the king had made the decision of offering her to become his servant to keep her sister save.

They made their way down a long hallway lighted by only a few torches and climbed down a floor to walk down another hallway. This corridor looked less luxurious, as if it was only used by the countless servants and maids that worked in the king's service. Therefore she was not surprised that the room that lay behind a door he opened for her was plain and functional – in the half dark, she could see a wooden bathing tub that already looked pretty old, a small drawer and a few candlesticks.

"Oi! Come on, everybody, I have some work for you!" Ronan screamed down the hallway and only a few moments later, three women hurried into the room, their heads bent low as they awaited his instructions.

"Here is the new servant of the king. I want you all to prepare a bath for her and ensure that she looks decent again and is properly dressed for her task. Inform me when you are done with her, I will be in the throne hall," Ronan ordered and the women nodded hastily, two of them immediately hurrying out of the room again. Nobody seemed to be bothered by the fact that it was already pretty late by now and the women looked a little bit tired, just as exhausted as Rolanda felt, actually, but they worked nonetheless.

Rolanda did not know what she was supposed to do or say as Ronan left and she was alone with the one woman who had not left the room, but had started to light the candles to bring some more light into the room.

Should she at least greet her, be a little bit friendly towards her?

The woman showed no signs of emotions as she gestured Rolanda to step towards the tub and started to rummage through the drawer that stood in the corner, taking things as combs, sponges and soaps out and arranged them on the top of the piece of furniture.

A few minutes passed until the two other women returned, followed by a few other servants, everybody carrying one or two buckets of hot water which they poured into the bathing tub until it was full. All the other people left, and now it was only Rolanda and the three women again – Rolanda tried to smile at them shyly, in an attempt to break the silence that was causing her to feel a bit uncomfortable about their presence. But it came out slightly forced and maybe crooked too, and none of the three returned it.

They did not even exchange any words at all between each other as they put a few small pieces of the sweetly smelling soap and stirred the water a bit so it turned from clear into a milky white colour.

Rolanda nearly jumped and screamed as they grabbed the seam of her dirty nightgown and wanted to pull it up, but then she just told herself to take a deep breath and let them do their job, even when it included to give up control over herself. At least she did not feel like she had to defend herself in here – the women maybe were not talking to her and this situation was just awkward, but still they had something soothing about them. Maybe it was the way they acted so motherly towards her that made Rolanda trust them: They were careful and not rough at all, as if they knew what she had been through in the last few days.

As she was pretty tired and it also felt good to have somebody take care of her, she just let them do as they pleased as they pulled the nightgown over her head.

After they had undressed her, they gestured to her to climb into the tub and one of the women actually held her hand to support her as she swung her legs one after the other over the side of the tub.

The warm water already felt wonderful around her lower leg as she stood in the tub, and she could not hold back a sigh of relief as she finally sank completely into the hot water. It felt like heaven, really, and she became aware of how much she had unconsciously missed taking a bath during her time down in the dungeons. She closed her eyes and allowed herself a short moment of pure enjoyment, one in which she could forget for a second that she still was in a pretty dangerous situation.

oOo

In the throne hall, King Severus had finished the main course and was now letting his ravenous gaze wander over the freshly served desserts – caramelised eggs, almond pudding, many different fruit compotes, little pies... As dessert truly was his favourite course, he had ordered the cooks to serve him as much diverse dishes as they could think of, and therefore the table was just as full as it had been during the main course.

Severus had just helped himself to some sweet blueberry pies as Ronan entered the throne hall, approaching his master in a fast pace.

"Ronan, my friend. May I offer something to you? I know you have a weakness for these savarins," Severus exclaimed, his mood seemingly brighter than it had been during the last few days. Ronan shook his head and spoke in a hushed voice:"Your highness, I know that you don't have to justify any of your actions, especially not in front of me, but I have to admit that I am a little bit curious about your decision to make this girl your personal servant! Please let me voice my concerns, my king – are you really sure that this is a good idea? I mean – she tried to attack you, master!"

Severus glared at him, though his expression looked pretty mild as he answered:"I am moved by the amount of concern about my safety, Ronan, but I know what I am doing. I don't see any risks – she will not dare to endanger her little sister. Oh, this love between siblings... how nice it must feel. But my own wonderful siblings never found it necessary to really show such things towards me. Still I know how strong it can bind people together, and this will ensure that she will behave."

"If you say so, my king," Ronan nodded, though he obviously did not feel comforted by Severus' explanations at all.

"Come on, take a seat, eat something with me, my old friend."

oOo

It felt odd to have somebody combing and washing her long, platinum blonde hair for her while she herself rubbed her skin off with a sponge, as Rolanda normally preferred to do things like that on her own. But still, it was pretty relaxed and she felt truly cared for in this moment, even though the women had been ordered to do all of this.

It was a relief to feel how all the dirt and also the odour of the dungeons were washed off her skin and out of her hair, and she felt a little bit more like herself – like Rolanda, and not like some prisoner that had been forced to sleep in hay.

She had the time to think about everything that had happened again, and one question was still gnawing on her like mad: What kind of purpose had it for the king to have her serving him night and day? After all, she was just a the daughter of a simple merchant, she did not have the best court manners and from the household experience she had gained during her life she knew that she would not make the best maid. She loved to oppose, to voice her thoughts and sometimes, she would even leave her work to watch the little boys playing knight with their wooden swords.

The king had to had some hidden intentions, that was clear, but she could not think of anything logical – he would not find her parents sooner when she worked for him...

Her skin was already wrinkled when the women gestured her to climb out of the tub, something Rolanda obeyed to only reluctantly – the water had been so comfortable, and they had provided her with a occasional bucket of hot water, preventing the water from cooling down too much.

The women were holding up a huge towel for her in which they wrapped her as soon as she had left the water. Shivering slightly in the cool air, Rolanda hurried to rub her skin dry on her own before she took a look at the clothes the women had been ordered to dress her in. Though, in comparison to her dirty and sweaty nightgown, everything clean and a little bit more covering would have been okay with her.

They dressed her in a white chemise and an actually pretty nice looking green dress with a cream coloured corsarge, which they were binding pretty tight, making her feel like she was being pressed through a tiny eye of a needle.

After drying her blonde hair off carefully and combing it again for what seemed like an eternity – Rolanda had forgotten how smooth it could feel when freshly washed – they braided her hair into a long, beautiful plait. As soon as they had finished, they plucked here and there, on her dress, on her hair, still not having said a word to Rolanda. One of the women left the room, obviously to summon Ronan again, and only now Rolanda catched a expression of compassion on the faces of the other two, scaring her a little bit off. Was the king such a tyrant that they were pitiying her for having to be with him all day? Actually, she was not very keen to find this out.

But still, she tried to think positive as she waited for Ronan to come back and introduce her to whatever her task would be in the future.

There was a short knock on the door and a servant entered, handing Rolanda a plate with two pieces of fresh, still warm bread and a little bit of cheese and ham, which she slung down hastily, having forgotten how hungry she was.


	15. A Whole Different World

Yey, finally a chapter with over 2,000 words again :) I am still hoping I will be able to reach the target... wish me luck!

Also, I hope you still like it, leave me your comment! (Also, excuse grammatical errors or typos, I will edit the story after finishing NaNoWriMo! Thanks to Anna Fay, by the way, who keeps providing me with a list of errors I made XD)

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15.

A Whole Different World

Down in the dungeons, Alannah had cuddled herself back under the moth-eaten blanket, her face pressed into the damp smelling hay. Her heart was racing and tears were running down her cheeks as she tried to muffle her own sobs so that no one else would hear how vulnerable she was in this moment.

Hours had passed since the men had stormed into their cell and had taken Rolanda away, and her older sister had not returned by now. This was causing panic and a paralysing fear to rise up inside of her, but she was simply too exhausted to really be hysterical. All she could do was lie here and cry silentenly to herself, therewhile drowning in the fear of never seeing her sister again. Even though she did not wanted to acknowledge the possibility that the men had taken her away to have her executed, she had to be realistic – something had happened, something extraordinary that had not been planned, and it certainly was nothing good.

And in the back of her mind, she had this frightingly certain feeling that Rolanda was indeed not going to come back to her and that she would have to take care of herself now. Only a few days ago, she had wished to have such an opportunity, she had thought that she was ready for something like this, that she could do everything herself...

But now, as she finally was on her own, left alone, she desperately wished that her older sister would return and take care of her. Rolanda always knew what to do, while Alannah simply felt helpless when she found herself in difficult situations. In some ways, Rolanda was just like their beloved father – she would find a solution most of the time, and no matter how bad Alannah's mood would be, Rolanda would always find the right words to cheer her up.

How she wished she had her sister with her now, to have her wipe away her tears and embrace her tightly, telling her that everything would be alright. Because when Rolanda told her that something would end good, she was able to believe it, while these positive words sounded like a desperate lie when she said them to herself. She did not know how Rolanda always found the bravery to think like that, to be hopeful even in the darkest times. It seemed like a difficult art that only a few people could master, and Alannah felt like she was completely unable to learn this as she realised that she was not the mistress over her thoughts.

She tried to search for some good thoughts, but everything that formed in her mind was dark, hopeless and so utterly pessimistic that she could not stop crying, feeling like a little child and not like the soon to be grown up she wanted to be so much.

She was alone, no one was here to protect her, she had nothing and nobody to hold on to except for the blanket and the hay under her body and the heavy feeling in her stomach told her that terrible things would happen, things that she would not be able to stop.

oOo

Rolanda felt horrible as she waited for the return of Ronan, who would take her to her new place to stay. She was shifting from one foot to the other, looking down on the surprisingly comfortable and light leather shoes she had been given along with her new dress. The two women who where left in the room were busy with cleaning up the bath tub and putting all the items they had used back into the drawer in the corner. While the two maids bustled around the room, Rolanda noticed that her own clothes were looking far more expensive than the ones of the two maids, even though they were too working for the king. Did this have any reason? Surely this king could not care less if his servants were wearing the most ragged clothes and were looking a little bit humble, making him look only more sublime in contrast.

But still, she somehow had ended up in this dress that did not really look like the average maid dress, being simply too focussed on making the wearer look good in it. None of the other maids were wearing such a corset as she did, their dresses were a dull brown, looking way more comfortable and practical.

There it was, the next question... Rolanda had to admit that she slowly was annoyed by the utter mystery this whole situation was and how every answer brought at least two more new questions, making her head spin all the time. Constantly, something seemed to be added to her distress, as if she did not have enough to worry about by now.

She just hoped that this would all be worth it, that King Severus would keep his word and Alannah would be well fed and left in peace while she worked for the king and did all he wanted her to do for him.

The voice of Ronan ripped her from the depths of her own thoughts as he said to the maids upon entering:"The king will be pleased with your work, women. You, come with me now."

Rolanda looked back at the three maids as she followed Ronan out of the room, them bowing and looking glad that they had done their job well enough. How she wished they could have told her what was awaiting her... she hated to walk into unknown situations completely unprepared, despite her sense for adventure and spontaneity.

Her heart was racing in her chest and her hands were so sweaty that she wiped them dry ever so often on the fabric of her dress as Ronan led her through the dimly lit corridors, up two staircases into a part of the castle that looked a little bit as if it could be located in one of the high towers of the fortress.

They stopped briefly in front of a oak door and Ronan turned around, looking at her with a serious expression:"These are the chambers of King Severus. I expect you to behave properly and not to touch anything without permission. If you disobey, the king is to decide how you will be punished. Understood?"

Rolanda gulped and nodded, feeling like she and her curious mind would have a hard time during the first days. Ronan pushed open the door and she followed him inside on his heels, wondering what she would see.

Actually, she did not know what she had expected the private chambers of King Severus to look like, but she certainly had not thought that the place would look so bright – countless torches and candles were lit, dipping the room into a warm light. Never before had she seen something like this, rooms looking so noble, full with rich furniture. Surely there were only a few places in this world that were filled with so many expensive items that the whole village of Waterhal could spend a lifetime eating only the best foods upon selling them.

The two of them were standing in the middle of a huge, round living room that had many windows with green curtains hanging in front of them, and Rolanda could not help but notice that the view from up here was magnificent – by daylight, it had to be stunning, however even in the dark, she could see over the valley, and she was surprised that she could still see the light of fires in the distance.

On the far end of the room, a mahagony dining table with matching chairs was standing, richly decorated with ornaments that were carved into the wood.

Precious tapestries showing ancient motives were hanging from the walls, accompanied by golden candlesticks and chandeliers. In front of a huge fireplace in which a warm fire was burning, banks with green, silver and black velvet cushions were arranged, some side tables with flowers or other decorative items standing between them.

Connected to the living room with a large archway was the working room, a heavy oak desk standing in the middle of it, parchments untidily strewn across it. Book shelves that reached up to the ceiling of the room were covering every free inch of wall in the working room, the boards creaking under the weight of expensive leather bound books and thick rolls of parchment. Rolanda asked herself how much the king must have paid for this impressive collection – after all, books had to be written down by hand and it could take years to copy down one book.

Rolanda had barely been able to take in the pure wealth these two rooms showed off to everyone entering as Ronan gestured her to follow him up the circular stone steps that were hidden behind a oak door with gilded iron ornaments that looked as if they had been polished only minutes ago.

On the next storey, they entered an equally huge bedroom that was full with high cabinets filled with expensive clothing. Near one of the windows stood a huge four poster bed with silver and green blankets and pillows that looked like one would feel like sleeping on clouds when lying down on this bed. In one corner, that could be divided from the room with a heavy curtain, stood a huge bathing tub that looked as if it provided space for four grown men.

Even though Rolanda did not feel like this was a place she wanted to be in, she found that King Severus' chambers looked way more comfortable than she would have thought. The king simply did not look like he was the type of person who needed a beautiful atmosphere to live in, but still everything in here looked like a person who had lacked coziness in his life lived in here.

Ronan turned around and focussed his gaze on her, looking dead serious as he said:"Stop staring around too much, the king won't like that."

Rolanda gulped and nodded, though she asked herself what the man had expected from her – anybody who had not grown up in a rich family would stare upon entering these chambers for the very first time, just because the whole atmosphere was simply overwhelming.

"Before the king comes, I will explain your duties to you. Listen carefully, and stick to the advises I will give you, for your own good."

"Yes," Rolanda answered curtly, and Ronan nodded before he started to explain slowly:"It is your assignment to fulfill every possible wish the king could have, you will be communicating his dining wishes to the kitchens and if he should wish to stay and eat in his chambers, it is also your task to fetch the food and serve it to him down in the living room. You will be preparing the king's bath every morning, sending for servants to fill the tub with hot water and making sure he has everything he needs.

"It is also your task to make sure all his clothes are freshly washed and dry whenever he wants to wear them. Don't try to use excuses or something like that when something is not finished, it will only add to his rage. You will also have to stay close to him in general, being around when he wanders the castle or works in the throne hall. Whenever he enters the room, you have to curtsey to show your respect and devotion. Also, don't speak until he allows you to do so, and if he should have guests, you have to stay silent. Additionally, you will sleep in his chambers, by the foot of his bed."

Rolanda felt like she would have a lot to do and asked herself when she would have some time for herself if she always had to stay with the king, whereever he went, practically having to become his shadow to complete her tasks. Surely this was all to the king's amusement, and he was certainly only waiting for her to make a false step during one of the many things she had to do for him.

To say that she was nervous would only play things down.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps behind them and Rolanda and Ronan turned around to see King Severus entering the bedroom. Immediately, Ronan bowed down while Rolanda just stood there, not knowing what she was supposed to do until Ronan kicked her in the lower leg, causing a sharp pain to throb through her leg as she curtseyed for the king, her head held low, her heart beating impossibly faster as she felt the king's gaze on her.


	16. The Feeling Of Magic

Luckily, still in front of the schedule! Just a connecting chapter, I guess, but I hope you will like it nonetheless!

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16.

The Feeling of Magic

King Severus was letting his gaze wander up and down Rolanda's body, taking in the sight she offered. The green dress complimented her golden eyes and her wonderful blonde hair and pointed out her wonderful curves. Her skin, now washed and looking smooth, was tempting and all he wanted was to touch it and find out how it really felt under his fingertips.

"Well, you look definitely better now that we have you in some decent clothes," Severus remarked, trying not to show any of his desire too open, therefore he was wearing his mask once again. "Ronan already introduced you to your tasks, I trust?"

Rolanda gulped as she felt a cynic answer tingling on her tongue as the king spoke to her, trying to swallow it done so she would not get herself in trouble in the very first minute.

She tried to sound as respectful as she could as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and replied:"Yes, your highness, he did."

"Very well, very well," Severus nodded, and Ronan bowed. "You may leave now, Ronan. I will see you tomorrow."

"As you wish, master," Ronan said and hurried down the stairs, a few moments later, they heard the oak door downstairs falling shut.

Severus focussed on Rolanda again and gestured around the room, asking:"How do you like my chambers? They already look very good, despite I have moved in only a few days ago. I had servants working day and night to have everything arranged according to my wishes."

"E-everything is looking very elegant and tasteful," Rolanda answered, asking herself why she felt so nervous in his presence. There was something about him that seemed to make her whole body vibrate, as if some unknown force was flowing through her veins, awakened by his presence. She had never felt something like this before, therefore she could not place this feeling, a fact that she disliked thoroughly.

"How nice of you, Rolanda."

A shiver ran down her spine as he said her name in a unnecessarely smooth way and once again she wondered about the king and his odd behaviour.

"It is already late, and I have a lot of business to attend tomorrow, therefore I would say we shall go and sleep now," Severus explained with a small, fake yawn. "This will be your sleeping place."

He gestured towards a silk blanket that was lying neatly folded on the carpet by the foot of his bed. It did not really look like it was much more comfortable than the haystack Rolanda and Alannah had been forced to share down in the dungeons, but at least the room was warm thanks to the fireplace that was located opposite to the bed.

Rolanda nodded slowly, though she did not know what to do now – was she supposed to simply lie down now, or was she supposed to do something for the king first, whatever this should be? Ronan had not bothered to tell her this, and now she felt as if he had not really told her anything about her tasks. She did know what they were – but how she was supposed to complete them had obviously not been his concern. Therefore, she felt a little bit odd as she just stood there, glued to the spot while watching how the king walked towards one side of the bed.

Blood rushed to her cheeks as he started to undress himself, throwing his shirt down on the floor and as she did not move, gestured her to pick it up before he pulled some light linen trousers out from under the blankets, obviously his sleeping clothes. Quickly she moved forwards, trying to cover her previous hesistant moment, and picked up the shirt that was still warm from the contact with his skin. After surveying the room for a short moment, she found a basket in which she could place his worn clothes, as it obviously was supposed to be used when carrying laundry to the maids who were washing.

Her blush only intensified as Severus ordered her to come to him and pull his blankets up over him and she tried not to look at his bare, muscular chest as she obeyed. He did not show any sign that he took notice of it, but she was sure that it was pretty obvious to him that she was feeling a little bit uncomfortable in this moment.

She had never really seen a naked man before as it was not fitting for a young woman to see one before her wedding night, let alone be unmarried and be in his bedroom. Of course she had already seen some men from the villages shirtless, but they had not been as good looking, and additionally they had been working in the fields, not climbing into their bed wearing only a short linen trousers.

"You may go to bed now," Severus said and Rolanda nodded, hurrying to blow out the last candles before she found her way to her bed in the glow the fire provided in the darkness. She tried to find a comfortable position while snuggling under the blanket and only after a few minutes she wished she could sleep on a haystack. The carpet was not very effective as a mattress and no matter in which position she tried to fall asleep – it did not work. Her bones and her muscles were aching only after a few minutes and she could not relax.

Something else that was keeping her from falling asleep was this odd feeling. It simply did not vanish, it was vibrating deep inside of her and kept her awake, no matter how exhausted she already felt by now.

This day had been full of events, some completely unpleasant, like her interrogation and the moment she had been taken from her cell for the second time of the day. Some others had been simply surprising and bizarre – just like King Severus talking rather politely to her, and then offering her to work as his servant to keep her sister safe.

Looking back, she could only say that she was thoroughly confused by all these events. In one moment, she had faced violence, and in the other, she was working in something like a golden cage, surrounded by luxury. Maybe the next days would provide some answers... at least she hoped they would, because otherwise she feared that she would loose her sane mind.

King Severus too was not sleeping yet – he was lying awake on purpose, faking a calm breath so Rolanda would believe that he was already wandering around in the land of dreams.

He was feeling more than comfortable right now, as if he finally had achieved something. If everything went just as he had imagined it a few hours ago when he had first registered the magic about Rolanda Hooch, then he had done a huge step forwards today, building the fundament of something powerful.

Right now, he was bathing in the feeling of Rolanda's strong magic – it was surrounding him like a second blanket, being a bodiless, but still warm and steady presence.

Grinning to himself in the darkness of the night, he felt triumphant about finally having her close to him, knowing her name and her secret. The nights he had been lying awake because he could not forget her face seemed like a faint memory from another time. She finally had stopped haunting him, because he had her under his influence now, and had discovered what had bothered him all these hours.

He could not wait to explore her more, to find out who she was and how much she really knew about magic – officially, it was a forbidden art and all non-magical people were extremely afraid of those people who they believed could perform magic, therefore he had always been forced to hide it, but still there were enough people who were aware of magic's advantages. Actually he was pretty sure that she could feel its power as good as he could, he had seen it in the way she acted around him, but she certainly could not place the feeling.

He was curious if she would believe the truth when the time to explain it to her had arrived.


	17. A King's Servant

Yeees! Over 3,000 words :) I am still well ahead of my schedule! Thanks for the nice reviews, everyone! I am glad you like it! :) Leave me more opinions, please, I am always glad to have some feedback!

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17.

A King's Servant

The next morning came way too fast and as King Severus' voice broke the morningly silence, Rolanda felt like she had not slept at all. Her whole body did hurt and she actually feared that she would have bruises all over her body, not from the beats she had received the previous day, but from sleeping on the floor. How was she going to survive the next days if she already felt that horrible after one night?

Slowly, she stood up, responding to the harsh demands of the king to get up:"I... I am awake..."

She tried to straighten her dress, that was extremely wrinkled from sleeping in it all night, and she turned around to bow at the king briefly, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

"This should go faster the next time, I don't want to have the time to fall asleep again before you react!" Severus growled, looking extremely annoyed and Rolanda gulped, feeling like she should hurry on everything she would do today to make him forget that she had been too slow to get up.

"Send for the servants to prepare my bath, and I also want my breakfast ready as soon as I am ready! Bread, suggared milk and fruits."

"Ehm... okay, I...," Rolanda stuttered and hurried down the stairs and through the living room towards the door that led to the corridor, not quite sure where she was supposed to go. Helpless, she walked a few metres before stopping, fearing that she could get lost in the many hallways if she continued walking. She had never been out here alone, and lacking any guide, she was sure that she would never find the kitchens.

"Hello?" She called out carefully, peering around a corner. "Is anybody here?"

"What can I do for you?"

Rolanda whipped around, glad to hear the voice of somebody and even more as she saw that a servant was standing in front of her, looking at her with a questioning gaze.

"I... I need your help," she exclaimed, not able to hold a happy smile back. "The king, he wants hot water for his bath, and his breakfast too, as soon as possible or he will rip my head off."

Her explanation maybe was a little bit more honest than necessary, but at least it caused the man to take her serious – his eyes widened and he nodded at her, answering:"I will hurry down to the kitchens, it won't be long until we will have everything ready, I promise. Just... just go back up there and try to be as uncomplicated as possible."

"Thank you," Rolanda breathed, still smiling at the man who turned around and hurried down the corridor in the direction he had come from and Rolanda herself turned around too, walking back to the king's private chambers in a fast pace.

She was breathless as she came back into his bedroom – Severus was standing next to his bed, wrapped in a robe made of a dark fabric, his foot impatiently tapping the floor. Rolanda just thought about curtesyeing before starting to speak, and she felt like she was being hunted.

"I... the water is on its way, and your breakfast too, your highness..."

Luckily for her, the servants with the water buckets came in before Severus could get any more impatient, and while the men filled his bath tub with the hot water she wanted to check if the servants also had the breakfast.

"Stop. You will stay here," Severus demanded in a sharp voice and Rolanda turned around while all the other servants hurried out of the room. She blushed heavily and tried to hide her glowing cheeks from the king, but she already knew that he had seen it.

"Pull the curtain shut. I want you to prepare my clothes now," he ordered and Rolanda silently released a breath she did not know she had been holding back. Nearly stumbling over her own feet, she pulled the curtain close and then turned to the many wardrobes.

"So, is your father a good and fair father? I noticed that you don't seem to be married. Am I right?" Severus chatted casually, his voice sounding rather disinterested. Rolanda wondered why he wanted to know something like that, but she guessed that it would be better to answer.

"I am not married, no. My father left me the choice if I want to marry or not and... I did decide for myself that I did not feel ready yet. So I guess he is a fair father, yes," Rolanda replied, opening one of the cabinets while searching for some clothes for the king. After some false choices, she finally managed to assemble a pair of black trousers and a plain white wool shirt. She placed the clothes on a small stool next to the curtain and then went to make the king's bed.

"How nice of him. He seems to be very gracious towards you."

"Yes, he is gracious towards many people," Rolanda answered, smoothening out the blankets and lingering a little bit as she felt how soft the fabric felt under her fingers.

"Well, not towards everybody," she heard the king mumble and then she heard the water splashing. A moment later, the king pulled back the curtain a little bit and took the clothes before disappearing again. As he emerged from the space behind the curtain, fully dressed, Rolanda realised that she had not checked if his breakfast was ready and served, down in the living room where it was supposed to be.

Her heart was beating in panic as she climbed down the stairs and she just hoped that the other servants had been as quick with the breakfast as they had been with the water. Though she somehow had the feeling that they had been kind of prepared for a morning like this – the water had been there in a fairly short amount of time, as if it had already been boiling when she had met the servant in the corridor. Maybe they had had to learn it the hard way that the king did not like to be forced to wait.

For the second time on this already eventful morning, she could be relieved – the table was completely prepared, and the king looked kind of satisfied as he sat down and started to eat immediately.

Rolanda did not know what she was supposed to do and therefore she was just standing around in the space by the stairs, chewing on her lower lip and asking herself when she would have time to eat or wash herself or change her clothes for some fresh ones... After all, she was supposed to be around the king all the time...

She could hear her stomach grumbling in hunger and it took a few moments before she could really recall for sure when she had last eaten something.

A few minutes later, King Severus had stopped eating and stood up, fixing his eyes on his new maid with an unreadable expression as he said:"You may eat the remains of my breakfast if you please. I will spend the day in my rooms today, and I expect you to stay with me all the time."

Rolanda nodded and tried not to look too hungry as she stepped forward and took a slice of the bread, waiting for the king to disappear in his working room before she really dared to eat it. She could barely hold herself back from bolting her food down and sometimes she even had to muffle a cough when she ate too fast nonetheless.

After she had finished eating, she took the tray and carried it outside, placing it on a side table next to the door that led into the living room from the hallway. She assumed that it was placed there so the servants did not have to disturb the king more than necessary by entering his chambers to pick up the tray and sticking to that spirit, she tried to be as silent as she could.

Severus was not even looking up from the parchment he was scribbling on with an eagle feather as she entered the working room – he only gestured at the floor next to one of the book shelves that stood opposite to him. Rolanda sat down, not knowing if she was supposed to be doing anything right now.

But he did not say anything, and so she continued to sit there for the next few hours, letting her eyes wander over the backs of the books. When she found herself being bored, she started to try and count them, but there simply were too many of them to count them all – even for a woman as intelligent as she was, there were numbers that she could not really name.

She had expected him to order her to fetch some lunch, but the noon passed and he did not say anything. All she registered was that he seemed to be watching her out of the corner of his eye from time to time, causing her to feel a little bit uncomfortable as this odd sensation was getting stronger when the gaze of his black eyes met her. But still, she tried to act as if she was not bothered by this and look as strong as ever, not willing to give him any clue of the influence he had on her with his mere gaze.

"You may go to the kitchens and get yourself something to eat in case you are hungry or want a brew. The cooks will prepare any dish you could wish for," Severus said casually as she shifted a little bit in her sitting position, probably assuming that she needed something.

It was almost terrifying how polite he was acting towards her in this moment, and in general – the feeling was only intensified by the memory of the things she had experienced in her village and in the castle until now, showing her that he was obviously not hesitating to be a cruel man who was really dangerous.

oOo

The day passed and as the sun started to set, Rolanda stood up and started to light some candles around the room, unasked, but she guessed that he would be alright with that.

"Could you send for dinner? I am hungry. And don't let me wait!"

Rolanda nodded quickly and hurried out of the king's chambers, only to stop dead in her tracks as she remembered that she still had no idea which way led to the kitchens.

Cursing her own laziness, she walked down the corridor a little bit, only to be out of hearing distance, and then she called out if anybody was around.

Fortunately, only a moment later a servant appeared, the same man who had been around the same morning when she had been helpless too.

"The king demands his dinner, I assume?" He asked and Rolanda nodded, a relieved smile on her lips once again as she replied:"Yes, he does... and this time it would be nice if you could take me with you, down to the kitchens I mean... It really is a nice coincidence that you are walking around here whenever I need help, but I think it would be better for all of us if I knew how to get down there myself..."

The man grinned and gently took her by the elbow, leading her towards a staircase while he explained:"Well, I have to admit that the other servants and I agreed to always have somebody waiting up here so we can help you to stay out of trouble."

She looked at him in surprise as they climbed down the stairs. It was not that she had not already expected something like that, but still it was something else to actually know that these people were secretly helping her.

"Oh... how nice of you... I guess I really needed that help...," Rolanda sighed and the man laughed lightly. "I am Rolanda, by the way."  
"Nice to meet you, even though I guess you wish that you did not have to meet me... My name is Sturgis, Sturgis Podmore."

He took her hand and shook it briefly before they walked down the next corridor, aiming for a different staircase. Rolanda tried to memorise the way as good as she could so she would be able to find it on her own the next time she would have to get something from the kitchens.

"Oh, well, too late is too late, I would say... I should have gone camping, I guess," she joked dryly and Sturgis smirked even brighter.

"Whenever you need anything, just go down to the kitchens and we will help you," Sturgis said as they reached the bottom of the stairs and walked through a narrow corridor before they entered a large vault that was lit by many torches and fireplaces. Kettles were hanging over the fires and in between the fireplaces, long, old looking oak tables were placed. Maids were sitting on them, cutting vegetables or doing other things, while others were bustling around, carrying things to the cooks. A delicious scent of roasted meat, cooked vegetables and sweet caramell was wafting in the air and Rolanda took a deep breath, feeling how her mouth watered.

"Did the king mention what he wants?" Sturgis asked while waving for one of the cooks to come over, and his smile actually fell for a second as Rolanda shook her head, remembering that there probably was a problem.

"No, I... I should have asked, right?"

"Oh, no, no, never ask him what he wants. He's been here for only a few days, but we had to learn the hard way that he takes it for granted that everybody knows about his preferences," Sturgis exclaimed and Rolanda nodded, glad that she had just left.

"And... and what does he want?"

"Oi, prepare some deer meat and fresh bread, the same as always."

The cook nodded and hurried off, yelling orders at the maids who instantly jumped to action too. Rolanda took a deep breath and made a mental note as Sturgis explained:"This seems to be his absolute favourite. Always pleases him. Therefore we always have something prepared so you only have to pick it up when he asks for his dinner. We do the same with his breakfast and the bathing water."

"Sounds pretty clever," Rolanda smiled and Sturgis grinned before handing her a big wooden plate that was filled with meat, bread and some parsley salad to the brims.

"Go, before he explodes. We will see each other."

"Thank you a lot," Rolanda breathed and she was incredibly proud of herself as she found the way back to the king's chambers without a problem. Severus was already sitting at the dining table and she tried to smile friendly as she gently placed the plate in front of him. The king nodded, his face looking as if he was satisfied with what he saw and she took a step back, watching as he ate.

For a moment, the look in his eyes had reminded her of her father – how content he would look when Rolanda had cooked something for her family and served it to him, extracting eulogies about his angelic daughter from him.

Would it ever be like that again? Would she ever be able to return to the cottage she had grown up in, with her family waiting for her?

And as she focussed her gaze on the man sitting at the table, she remembered that he could be the reason why she had to rely on memories when she wanted family moments. Before she could hold herself back, the words jumped out of her mouth while the king was still chewing:"Why do you hate my father so much that you would be willing to kill my sister, a child, to get me to tell you where he is?!"

Maybe she had expected him to choke on the piece of meat he had in his mouth just in that moment... Or that he would look surprised about her question. But of course he had expected her to ask about his reasons sooner or later, and his neutral expression did not reveal anything about him and his thoughts.

"You should not ask questions, do you understand?" He replied in a calm tone that sounded a little bit forced and Rolanda saw how one of his hands curled up to form a tight fist lying on the tabletop. Nevertheless, she went on – she had already done the first step, and the next one surely could not do more damage, couldn't it?

"No, actually I don't understand it, okay?! I demand to be told what is so important about my father, because right now, it is my life and the life of my little sister that are immensily affected by this situation! Whatever the reason is why you are doing all of this, I feel like I have the right to know hear everything about it! And by the way, I don't care about what I am supposed to do and what not!" Rolanda hissed, taking a step towards the table while speaking.

But only a second later, she regretted how daring she sometimes could be – the king jumped to his feet and threw the plate to the floor with a loud bang, his face contorted in anger.

"Don't you dare to speak with me like that! Stay silent, and nothing will happen to you, girl! You are too curious, and that is no good for you, do you understand me?!"

"But..."

Suddenly, his palm hit her cheek and she stumbled backwards, tears stinging in her eyes. Severus glared dangerously at her, his dark eyes seemingly emitting sparks of fury and Rolanda knew that she had probably gone too far.

Kneeling down, she hurried to pick all the little pieces of meat and bread up and stuffed them back on the plate, only to get back to her feet and hurry to place the plate outside on the side table. Severus gaze never left her, watching every move of her as she cleaned up the floor and she was incredibly glad that she was able to stop her hands from shaking badly.

"Prepare my bed. And if you should ever start with this again, you will regret it. Don't forget that your sister's life is lying in my hands and that I can do with her whatever I want!" Severus threatened her, grabbing her arm as she came back to the living room. He was cutting off the bloodstream in her arm and her fingers were already starting to tingle as he stopped to glare into her eyes and shoved her backwards, towards the stairs.

"Don't forget my words. It would be unwise to do so, for both you and your sister."


	18. A Man Of Mysteries

Neext one... we are getting closer :)

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18.

A Man Of Mysteries

If Rolanda had barely slept the previous night, she even slept less in this one.

She found herself too afraid to fall asleep, she was thoroughly regretting what she had done. But sometimes, she just found herself unable to control her tongue and keep her mouth from spilling out her opinion unfiltered.

However, the damage was done, she had enraged the king, something she had been advised to avoid, and all she could hope for now was that there were no consequences. Maybe he would look over this slip of her tongue? After all, she had been his servant for a mere day, and she still had to get used to all of this, being devoted to him against her personal beliefs and intuitions and obeying to everything he said. Her opinions and her desire to find out the truth about everything that was going on were not important to him and she was sure that he did not really intended to ever tell her what she wanted to know.

Surely Ronan had not said this without a reason. Maybe it had been meant to her protection, and if not, she should at least take this advise seriously, no matter how hard it was going to be for her.

The next morning, she felt horribly drained of energy and as she watched the first rays of the rising sun creep over the stone floor, she asked herself what would happen.

Would her small false step be enough to cause King Severus to send his men down into the dungeons to Alannah to show Rolanda the hard way that she could not afford any other reckless actions?

"In case you are already awake, I would like to have my breakfast served as soon as dawn is over. No bath today," the calm voice of King Severus suddenly broke the silence, causing Rolanda to wince slightly. She had expected him to sound aggressive and glare at him as she stood up and turne to look at him, but he simply appeared relaxed and rested, as everyone who had just woken up from a night of undisturbed sleep would.

"Uhm... sure, as you wish...," she nodded and walked out of the room, down the stairs and out of the king's chambers. While walking, she ran a hand over her face, wiping away the slight crumbles of sleep as she released a breath. Looking out of a window of the hallway as she made her way towards the kitchens, she realised that she would have a lot of time until she had to have the breakfast ready and served in on the king's dining table.

Had he done that on purpose, giving her enough time to have a relatively relaxed morning herself? Or was this just a coincidence, that he just did not wanted to get up right now, being way too comfortable in his warm and soft bed?

Thinking closer about it, she decided that she had other things to worry about and that she did not care about the why, as long as she had some time for herself and was not walking right into any trap of his.

Down in the kitchens, she met Sturgis, and smiling lighthearted for the first time since the last time they met, she greeted him:"Do you ever sleep?"

"To be honest, no," he winked, offering her a slice of bread that was still warm. Rolanda took it with a grateful expression, just as the small cup of goat milk, feeling her stomach churn in protest.

"The king's breakfast will be ready soon," one of the cooks notified Rolanda as he walked by, too busy to do more than to acknowledge her mere presence with a friendly nodd.

"Everything still okay up there?" Sturgis asked while they ate the delicously tasting bread, sitting next to each other on the edge of one of the long tables, watching the maids and cooks who were already busy so early in the morning, mainly occupied with baking fresh bread for all the inhabitants of the castle. Rolanda tried to imagine how many people lived in Blackdown Stronghold, seeing the huge bowls of bread dough the women were preparing, but she soon gave up – she was not a dumb person, not at all, but some things or numbers were just too big to imagine.

"I don't know, I think I will be able to evaluate that during the day... if you don't hear anything from me by dinner time, my tongue probably slipped again and he snapped at me...," she answered with a sigh after finishing off her milk, unceremoniously wiping her lips with her sleeve. Sturgis raised an eyebrow and said:"You better control yourself. I already witnessed how vicious he really can be and I assure you, you don't want to stand on the wrong side of his sword."

"Guess I should be a little bit more cautious then," Rolanda muttered darkly, feeling a lump form in her throat as the cook came back, carrying the king's breakfast tray. This morning, he would have fruits, one bowl with corn mash with honey and a bowl of sweet semolina – one of Rolanda's secret favourites, therefore her mouth was watering, even though she had already eaten something only a minute ago.

Telling Sturgis that they would hopefully meet again in the evening, she took the tray and carried it up the many stairs and through the hallways, always eyeing the mash inside the pull, trying to prevent it from touching the rims of the bowl while she walked.

Coming back to the chambers, King Severus was already seated in his chair at the head of the dining table, fully dressed, looking suspiciously patient as Rolanda placed the tray in front of him. She half expected him to have a complain of some sort, but he only nodded at her and she took a step back as the unbelievable happened. Had she not heard the words coming from his mouth with her own ears and had she not seen his lips move, she would not have believed that this was really happening.

"You may sit down at the table, if you like," the king told her, gesturing at the chair right next to him. She could not believe that he was actually acting as if nothing had happened the previous evening and she could not help but shiver slightly as she sat down as he had told her, her fingers gripping the edge of her seat for a short moment as he actually took the bowl with the semolina and placed it in front of her.

"Eat. You must be hungry. And if you should desire some of the fruits, don't hesitate to serve yourself," he continued, ignoring her shocked expression – yes, he surprised her so much that she forgot to hold up her facade, if she had ever had one. In any case, she had to look odd in this moment, and a lot less confident. But who could blame her for this – nobody would ever expect to be offered to sit with the king and share his noble breakfast after openly opposing to him for the second time since they met.

"Ronan paid me a visit while you were down in the kitchens to fetch my breakfast," he started to chatter casually after a few minutes as Rolanda finally dared to eat something from the semolina – it tasted wonderfully, better than any of her own creations and if her stomach were a cat, it surely would have purred in delight in this moment.

"He told me he visited Alannah in her cell yesterday night."

Rolanda stopped chewing, staring at the structures and lines of the wood while waiting for him to give her the final blow by telling her that he had punished her sister.  
"He notified me that she is quite alright and enjoys the extra food she is provided with."

It did hurt in her throat as Rolanda forced herself to swallow the too big portion of food she still had in her mouth and she had to take a deep breath to keep herself from yelling at him if it really was necessary to scare her that much. However, she used her now empty mouth to bite her tongue without the danger of spilling her food and just remained silent, nodding to express her relief.

Obviously though, the king was not done with his casual run down of what had happened so far and what was going on in his mind.

"It must appear cruel to you. What I am doing, I mean. Sending my soldiers out to capture and kill people who were living in peace for all these years, loyal men who seemingly never did any harm to anyone. Ripping families and lovers apart, burning villages down whose inhabitants lived in freedom for as long as you can think."

He did not sound as though he was just talking about being responsible for the deaths of countless people, Aurora's husband and Aurora herself, though having comitted suicide out of grief, being among them. In fact, he sounded like he was just explaining how good the roses in the castle gardens were growing. Rolanda really found this gruesome – not only because she had known some of the victims for most of her life, but also because she could not imagine how anybody could be so insensitive that ordering to have maybe hundreds of people killed did not bother him at all.

"You are allowed to answer openly and freely express your opinion concerning this topic," Severus added, eyeing her sceptic face that she did not bother to hide. Just yesterday, he had hit her for speaking out loudly what was going on in her mind, which questions were important for her at the moment, and now he suddenly wanted to hear what she was thinking about his methods?! Was this a trick to find an excuse to treat her badly?

"I... I don't..."

She shook her head, but his expression, obviously supposed to be encouraging of some sorts, caused her to answer faintly:"I don't believe that killing people is the right way to achieve anything."

He did not directly react to her statement, but instead asked her:"Do you like books, Rolanda?"  
Popping a white grape into his mouth, he looked at her with an odd kind of interest and she did not dare not to answer.

"Yes, I indeed like to read..."

"Oh, it really is nothing common for women. Do you happen to have read one of the tales about the ancient cities that were the centres of worldly and religious powers? Thousands of people were roaming the streets and the rememerable markets, travellers were visiting the cities to experience their glory and carry the stories about what they saw there to all the other places they would travel to in their life. However, in nowadays, the folk is spread out over the whole kingdom again, there rarely are big cities as they all decided to have small settlements.

"Also, the once huge empires that were spreading over continents did disappear. I do not understand why we made this backwards progression, but it happened and I intend to change this. What I dream of is to bring the Kingdom of Ulidia back to the glory it deserves. Our culture shall rise and spread over the whole world, gathering all the treasures that can be found."

Rolanda could see a enthusiastic gleam in his dark eyes and as he continued to talk about foreign or ancient cultures and some kinds of literature and she could not keep herself from thinking that she was sitting in front of an fairly interesting and intelligent man. He seemed to be reading a lot and was, despite his open disagreement towards diplomacy, very well polished in politics.

For some minutes, she was actually hanging on his lips, listening to him with interest, sometimes even nodding if she found herself agreeing to some things he had thought about.

But still, as he just went on, seemingly barely needing to breathe as he talked, she could still notice his slightly maniac regards behind those well-chosen words, spoken with good manners. For somebody who did not fall for his big words, his greed and his unlimited craving for power was more than obvious.

She was seeing that he must have been disturbed by something in the past and she asked herself if there perhaps had been an event in his childhood that had droven him into madness, causing him to become as greedy and ruthless as he was today.


	19. Truth

Okay, I can already see the finish line... Thanks for all the reviews and the favorites! :)

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19.

Truth

Slowly the days passed by, nearly always having the same order of events while barely anything happened that could disturb this constant flow.

Rolanda would wake up in the mornings, sharing her sleep rhythm with the king by now, and go down to the kitchens to order breakfast and warm water for the king's bath. Before noon, the king would grant her some time for herself – to take a bath down in one of the rooms the maids lived in or to change her clothes after having been provided with a second dress of the similar green as her first one. The maids would take her dirty clothes to wash them and they would reappear on the side table she always placed the food trays on.

King Severus mostly spent his time in his chambers – the only exceptions were some meetings in the throne hall, during which Rolanda had been sitting in some corner. Otherwise, he would be sitting behind his working desk while reading through parchments, writing letters or even sketching plans of monuments or buildings. During these long hours, Rolanda would have nothing to do except sitting on the floor and waiting for any orders the king might have for her. Of course this bored her greatly, but sometimes, if he was not too absorbed into his work and was in a good mood, the king would randomnly jump from his chair and pull a book out of one of the many shelves and handed it to her. Sometimes he would comment the book he had picked out for her, explaining what it was about and what he found good about the topic or tale, or, when he was a little bit more busy, he would just push it into her hands or drop it into her lap without a word before returning to his desk.

He never asked her about her opinion about the books, which were of so different natures that Rolanda's boredom was blown away as soon as her eyes took in the first few words. Especially the tales about fantastic lovestories between princesses and princes or about the battles that had once been fought by brave knights were lighting up her own mood. Those were the ones that she had loved ever since her father had taught her to read and even in this situation, she could barely stop reading them.

They turned out to be her opportunity to escape her reality, if only in her imagination and for a few hours, but that was enough for her. Every minute that she did not have to worry about Alannah was a minute of easing. Every thought about her situation being held back by the tales was one weight less dragging her shoulders down.

The odd feeling she had felt about him was of course still more then present, but fortunately it had kind of ebbed down a bit, or maybe she had just gotten used to it, now that it was present all the time, night and day.

One thing that bothered her the most was that the king had not even asked about her mother and father once. It really seemed a little bit as if he had forgotten about the reason why he had made Rolanda his servant in first place – to somehow make her tell him everything she knew about her parent's location, to have her at his mercy by threatening Alannah's life.

Therefore it really worried her that he was not asking her anything about them. But the thought of bringing this topic up whenever they had a little chat was giving her a bad feeling in her gut, and therefore she just remained silent, thoroughly hoping that he would not get back at her for that.

Still, her days were not as easy as one might think – even though King Severus could be rather friendly towards her by giving her a mere hour to take care of herself or handing her a book to help her spend her time with something else than sitting around and staring holes into the air, he still was a shifting character.

He had a lot of nasty mood swings that occurred out of nowhere mostly – she had tried to find out if there was something like a trigger, a person, an event or just anything that caused him to go through this change from one second to the other, but she had not been able to recognise a pattern yet.

Therefore, she just tried to be extra cautious around him, attempting to be as unobtrusively and tolerable in her actions as she could.

Still she was one of his favourite targets, regardless in which way he swayed. Sometimes, he would be cold to her, as icy as a winters night, something that was at least bearable – he would just ignore her, not speak at all, even refuse to eat. She really was not obliged to care about him at all after everything he was doing, but still she found herself being a little bit worried when he practically buried himself into work, ignoring that his body had needs too.

However, only an hour later he could happen to behave relatively normal again, being friendly, talking with her as if they were friends of some sort. In these moments he could be a gentleman who took care of her even though it was supposed to be the other way around. Sometimes she even had the impression that he was trying to flirt with her in his own, odd and hidden way.

Though she had been forced to learn to not get too comfortable with this friendliness – only the next second, he could snap and break out into pure rage. Whenever this happened, he would scream around about things she did not understand and throw everything movable that was within his reach. His fury could focus on anybody that was in the room – Ronan, the servants... but mostly, it was Rolanda who was near. She was the one who had to listen to his tantrums, not daring to cover her ears to muffle his bellowing, fearing that this could enrage him even more. She was the one who had to duck away from flying items – plates, trays, quills, candlesticks... not even his precious books were safe, though he mostly controlled himself enough to keep his hands off these.

So many of her afternoons had been spent with cleaning up the mess his outbreak had left behind once it had cooled down and had converted into another extreme emotion and the connected behaviour.

She had stopped counting how many plates and candlesticks she had been forced to replace, how much food had been wasted because he had thrown it onto the floor. Some afternoons were spent with the attempt to repair the broken back of a book, but mostly he would take it from her hands and order some servant to have it taken to somebody who knew more about things like that.

But of course her days were not only revolving around trying to not be hit in the head by some object that was thrown by him, and there was also more happening then his mood changes.

Actually, she got to witness a lot about the progression of the situation in Ulidia, she was always present when the king was informed about the newest progressions and therefore she was just as informed about everything as he himself was.

About a week after the new king had taken over the reign, his soldiers had reached nearly all parts of Ulidia, or at least they were constantly coming closer to the farthest part, surely leaving a trail of destruction and despair behind.

Rolanda always asked herself how King Severus could think that all this terror could be the fundament for a solid rule without the potential of a rebellion. She could honestly imagine pretty good that there somewhere were people who were ready to summon all their courage and had enough will to sacrifice everything, even their own lives, for a better future.

No matter how hard it sometimes was to be a servant for the king, being at the front line when he got angry, Rolanda still felt like she was gaining some of her confidence back, just a little bit on every day.

She did not look down at her fingers or the floor so much anymore, no, she was able to hold her head high and look the king in the eye when he spoke with her.

And one afternoon, she decided that she was sick of having to wait until her father's corpse would be carried into the courtyard of the castle.

Wanting to hear answers and being determined to get them while being such a stubborn person as she was, she threw all caution into the wind. Of course she still remembered what had happened the last time she had tried to ask the king some questions about her father, but she decided that she would try and throw herself in front of Alannah if she got the opportunity.

The king had demanded some tea and cake for the afternoon, and she had just returned from the kitchens, placing the small tray with the requested drink and food in front of him on his working table. His mood had been considerably stable for the whole day and she decided that a lot of time could change until something like this would happen again. From her perspective, it was now or never, and she decided to take a chance.

Bowing slightly, she took a deep breath and, instead of stepping back as she usually did, she broke the rules and asked:"Your highness... why are you so desperately searching for my father?"

Inwardly she braced herself for the big bang, but once again, the king surprised her.

oOo

Severus could not deny that he was taken aback by Rolanda's sudden question, but of course he still had enough control over himself to not show that she had caught him cold.

Her question actually made him realise that he had totally forgotten about questioning her concerning her parents and it was a hard piece of work for him to swallow his rage about himself down. He had allowed himself to get kind of lulled by the triumphant feeling of finally having her, the one he had been forced to dream of, around him. Also had he found himself wondering more about her magic as he should – to conclude, he had just been distracted from everything, something that had not been supposed to happen, especially not to him.

Nothing concerning her and her father had gone according to the plan he had had in his mind, and this was a good reason to be angry again, but in this moment, he just stayed calm.

All he could see right now was how beautiful she looked, her face full of curiousity as she displayed how strong she was, determined... This attitude of hers was radiating from her, infecting him kind of and suddenly, he had an idea. Remembering the reason why he had taken her as his servant, he decided that it was the right time to take things forward a little bit, to see how much of the truth she was actually going to believe.

By now, he was quite sure that she possessed the same powers as her father, that they had been passed on to her by blood and that he would be able to use her for his advantage. If he did everything right, he could be able to use her powers and he would be able to achieve even greater things through her. That would balance out the fact that he still had not been able to find her father, the one he had originally wanted, or even erase the disadvantege he had at the moment.

Maybe it would not be as bad as he thought if everything did not as he had planned, and maybe everything would be even greater if he only let the things find their own ways. Had this perhaps happened to teach him that he had to accept that the tides changed as they pleased and that one had to arrange themselves with that fact? Yes, maybe... and with a little bit of luck, he would find out if this thought had any truth inside of it.

Taking a deep breath, he stood up and Rolanda took a step backwards, surely expecting him to have a furious outbreak, but he just smiled at her, nodding as he answered:"Well... I guess it is time that you learn the truth. And I will not be the one to deny it to you any more."

As soon as his words had left her mouth, her slightly defensive posture dropped and her golden eyes fixed on him with a nearly expectant expression as she obviously waited for his explanations.

"Before I can go further with any explanations, I need to inform you about something you probably did not know about your father. His biggest secret in his life, I am sure about that. I regret that I am the one who has to tell you this, it should have been him who explained you everything, but as you deserve the truth..."

He asked himself how Rolanda would react as soon as she had heard the truth. Thinking about it, he had never opened up a topic of this kind to somebody, and therefore he really did not know how to say it. After a little bit of consideration, he decided to do it straight forward, quick and without much more words, and he said in a serious tone:"Your father is a wizard."


	20. Magic

Ah, so I am about to reach the end sprint... once again, thanks for reading, I am looking forward to your opinions! :)

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20.

Magic

There was a long moment of silence that filled the room, during which Rolanda could do nothing else than stare at the king with wide eyes.

Her mind was blank, and it was as if she just had not enough capacity to really take in the words he had just said, though they were constantly resounding in her head like an echo in a cave.

It sounded pretty ridiculous, and for a split second she was utterly convinced that he was insane, that he had lost his mind and was having halluzinations of some sorts, that he imagined things that every sane person in the world knew did not exist!

Then, she thought she had got hold of him and what he was trying, and she started to laugh, wiping a strand of her blonde hair out of her face.

"Oh, you are making fun of me... Really, this was a good try, your highness, the way you kept your face straight, for a moment I really believed that you were thinking that you were telling the truth... But I have to inform you that you are not really that talented in making jokes!" Rolanda snickered, she was really convinced that he really was trying to make a joke on her expense.

The king, though, was suddenly glaring at her and Rolanda's grin fell immediately, she stumbled backwards and a lump formed in her throat as he straightened his back and said:"In my opinion, there is nothing to laugh about. And I hereby inform you about the fact that I am never making any jokes. Your father is capable of performing magic and he is indeed a very talented wizard."

Rolanda's eyes widened impossibly and she thought she must have been dreaming this statement as well, because something like this was just not possible.

"You're lying! You have got to be hallucinating, there is nothing like magic in this world, and I surely would have registered it if my father had performed magic in our house once!" Rolanda exclaimed, shaking her head so frantically that her braid was hitting her shoulderblades painfully.

"What kind of reasons should I have to lie to you? I am just as sane as you are," Severus replied calmly, but still Rolanda snorted sarcastically, not able to bite her tongue in time to hold back a snide comment:"Yes, because you are giving everybody a reason to believe that everything in your mind is just the way it is supposed to be."

The king glared at her, a dark expression on his face, but for once, Rolanda did not feel intimidated by his behaviour – she was just too angry to do so, due to the fact that she believed him to turn her into a victim of his crazy mind.

"For your own benefit, I am going to ignore this statement, Rolanda, but I assure you, the next time I hear you saying such things to me in a careless and disrespectful way you are going to face the consequences!" he growled indignantly but Rolanda was still too absorbed by her temper to care at all about breaking the king's precious rules – he had not been too keen to punish her before and a distant feeling told her that this behaviour of his was going to continue just the same.

It was odd, really, that he seemed outright reluctant to rise his hand against her.

Not once had he really been violent towards her – the objects he had sent flying during his furious outbreaks had never really been aimed at her at all. Additionally, him grabbing her arm a little bit roughly during her first try to ask him for the reasons of Rolanda and Alannah being held captive at Blackdown Stronghold had been the worst physical contact they had had.

Of course he would scream at her when he was annoyed, regardless if she was the cause or not, he would say the rudest things she had ever heard coming from a man's mouth. But never had he really done her any harm, no matter how much he had threatened her in his blind rage, telling her that he would love to kill her. She doubted that he had left out a single way how one could take another person's life – snapping her neck, stabbing her with various weapons that consisted of a blade, poisoning her, choking her with his bare hands or shooting an arrow right into her heart.

The latter seemed to be his favourite method as he mentioned it more often than the other ones and Rolanda wondered if he had had any issues with affection in the past, like loving a parent but not receiving the love and attention the child wished and longed for in return.

And though she did not dare to come close to trusting him and still believed that she had to be rather careful around him, as she thought that he was dangerous and unpredictable, she was still crossing the boundaries in this moment anyway.

She was pretty sure that this was because she just allowed her temper to take control of her – past events had proved that it was never good for her when this happened.

As a child, if boys would make fun about her, they were bound to be surprised by the smaller Rolanda jumping at them, trying to break a bone or at least cause them enough pain so that they would never dare to say anything hurtful to her again.

Fighting definitely was not an option right now, as she was not particularly suicidal. However, her temperament also enhanced her verbal battle skills – she would not care about what she said, how loud she would voice her thoughts, to whom she was speaking and especially how striking the words were.

Men thoroughly disliked it when women spoke their minds too loudly and too intelligently or radical, and this was the spot where Rolanda aimed her blows at.

The problem was that she was becoming rather reckless, dangerously reckless when she had started speaking once and her parents had often been forced to scold her, even after she had grown up. Sometimes she had brought them extremely close to loosing their face in front of their costumers or neighbours as she had not been able to keep her opinion to herself, but of course they still loved their daughter for who she was, for being this unique and fierce young woman.

Later, after the words had left her mouth or her fist had landed, she would sometimes regret what she had said or done, as in some cases she had never meant any harm, but still this did not change the fact that while being ruled by her temper, she did not really think about the consequences some words or actions could mean.

Right now, as she stood in front of the king and was just warming up for an argument, it was no different.

"Fine!" Rolanda snarled, throwing her hands up while glaring back at Severus just as intense as he did. "Then prove it! Give me a reason to really believe that what you are saying his true! Just show me a proof that magic exists and that my father is a wizard!"

Severus sighed inwardly, feeling just so utterly annoyed about the current situation. This woman was really pushing him to new states of something he called his "calm anger" - it was fury that was boiling inside of him, making him feel really uncomfortable because it woke the need to shake himself in him, to behave impulsive, while he was just not able to release his feelings at all.

Never before had he met a person that was able to bring him to such emotional states, and the way she always had to question what he was saying was making him want to jump in circles while screaming madly at her.

She seemed to have grown more confident over the last few days – it was obvious to him that she was challenging him, showing off her intellect and her courage, not caring about the fact that she was not supposed to voice any backtalk, something that was not allowed for women and servants.

Still she did it, proving that she was more than what she appeared to be on the outside, that her head was not only pretty but also intelligent. And even though this behaviour of hers was annoying him endlessly, it still also was the thing that was drawing him towards her.

Rolanda was beautiful, she was witty, outspoken and had more in her brain than many of his own men – she was different, she did not show as much devotion as she was supposed to be and had her own opinion, which she obviously did not hesitate to defend.

"As you wish, my lady," he hissed, doing a mocking bow before walking past her, making his way into the living room, towards a cabinet. Rolanda heard a clicking sound, as if a lock was being opened, but she could not remember seeing him taking a key out of his pocket.

He pulled one of the drawers open, actuating a secret switch that opened a compartement hidden in the bottom of the drawer. Severus took a long and thin wooden box out of the compartement – it was looking pretty expensive and was richly decorated with runes and other signs she had never seen before in her life.

"Magic is a mysterious power that seems to be as old as the world itself. Nobody really knows when people started to discover that they were able to use magic to do things others were not able to do and that they could enhance their skills through practice, making them more powerful. But there are things we indeed know, though it would take years to explain all these findings to you," he explained, all the while opening the box which was, as Rolanda noticed now, about as long as his forearm.

"You surely believe magic and magical beings to be a motive that exists only in fairytales or old legends nobody has a proof for, something that is solely meant to give people hope that something in their miserable lives could change out of nowhere and that miracles can happen if you only have enough hope. But also are the unskilled people afraid of what witches and wizards are capable of. Many people tried to benefit from the skilled ones in the past, convincing them even with violence, therefore many wise wizards and witches are concealing what they really are, to protect themselves, their families and our secrets."

He carefully took a thin, wooden stick out of the box, holding it almost lovingly while Rolanda eyed the object suspiciously, of course still not convinced at all. All he did was talking about a something without really showing anything.

"This is a wand. We use wands to be able to control our magic more effictively when we cast a spell. It is not necessary to make an incantation work, but if the result is ought to be steady and powerful, the wand is the only way to achieve this, especially for apprentices.

"This one is one of, or maybe even _the_ mightiest wands that do exist in this world and it is made out of elder wood and has a core of Thestral hair, a magical being that can only be seen by witches or wizards who have seen death," Severus went on, registering Rolanda's still sceptic expression, though he suspected that he at least had woken her interest – he already knew that she was a very curious person and surely she was thinking about his words.

"I guess a demonstration would wipe some of your doubts away, am I right?" he added and before she could nodd of give an answer, he waved his wand and one of the candlesticks nearby slowly rose into the air, hovering a good arms length above the side table it was supposed to be standing on in this moment.

Immediately, Rolanda's jaw dropped and she slowly walked over to the side table, waving her hand searchingly above and underneath the still hovering candlestick, checking for invisible strings that could have been attached to the object in order to create an illusion.

"It... it is real...," she whispered, her voice shaking ever so slightly and her eyes being wide in awe as she looked back at him, struck by realisation.

"Yes, indeed," the king replied dryly and with a casual flick of his wand, the candlestick slowly sank downwards until it gently landed on its table again.

"And... and my father, he is... and you, you are?"

"I am a wizard, just as he is, yes," Severus nodded, grinning inwardly about her utter surprise. "Of course I am unable to prove that your father is of magical heritage as well, as he is is not present currently, obviously. But I assure you, he is a very powerful wizard, maybe as powerful as I am, and he as he is considerably older than I am, he is much wiser, having been able to gather more knowledge throughout the years."

"And... and how do you become a wizard or witch?" Rolanda asked curiously, her interest awakening though she was still feeling as though all these completely new informations were weighing her down and and every single one of them had hit her with full force upon hearing it for the first time. It somehow was as if her father had been living a double life, and she somehow was reminded of Janus, the Roman god with the two faces. She only knew her father as the kind and amusing man who raised her up, and now it was revealed that he had a side that he had hidden away completely from her whole family.

Did her mother know that he was a wizard when she had married him? Or was she as oblivious as Rolanda had been a few minutes ago?

Severus therewhile was feeling rather excited – she had just touched an aspect he had been aiming at all the time.

"Well, magic is not something that can be learned by anybody, it is not a skill as trivial as sword fighting is. No, one has to be born with the skills, and the ability to perform magic is only passed on by blood. Like... from father to daughter."


	21. Temptations

So, here is the next one! I hope you enjoy it! :)

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21.

Temptations

"This is ridiculous," Rolanda snorted dryly, glad that she was spared from a paralysing shock this time, though it still was an odd experience to hear him, a complete stranger who knew nothing about her at all, implying that she too had secret skills that seemed too fantastic to be true.

It also seemed like the subconscious part of her mind had already started to see the hints that had lead to the king's ultimate statement, therefore her surprise about Severus' words was not as big as she believed it probably was supposed to be. Still, she could not believe what he was saying – it simply was not logical.

"Why do you think like this, if I may ask?" Severus replied, the slightest hint of a puzzled expression showing on the surface of the mask that he used to distance himself from every other human being that was around him.

"Well, let us think about it for a few minutes," Rolanda snarled disapprovingly, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You are telling me that I have been a witch for all my life, that I was possessing these magical powers you were talking about all the time and I did not register it, neither did my father or my mother. I surely would have been aware of it and my father would have seen it too if he is that powerful and wise wizard you say he is! So please excuse me, your highness, when I find it difficult to believe that I am a witch!"

Severus sighed inwardly and held himself back from covering his face with his palms – she was really straining his nerves with her need to get a detailed explanation on everything he told her. It would not be easy to convince her of the truth, even though she was a intelligent woman. He could understand why she was doing it, though – magic was nothing common as religion was, even though these two things seemed to be a little bit similar to each other in some aspects, at least from the perspective of a non-magical person.

Religion and magic were both about something like higher powers that stood above the average human being, the first one having been invented by people who had been seeking for an explanation of how the world and everything on it had come to existence at all. In tales, magic was used to fool people, in Severus opinion – it was always a tool to turn things around, so that even the worst and most unsolvable situation could be given an happy ending, which in turn was supposed to give people the false impression that even the most miserable situation could end good for them.

Religion was doing this too – spend enough time on your knees, listen to the words of the priests that are looking down on the ordinary folk from their pulpits, confess your sins to the old man's ground division and bow your head to show devotion, be a good sheep to the old shepherd and maybe, if the unreachable god sees you worthy, you will be blessed with a wonder or at least you won't end up in the most cruelest depths of hell.

And well, some people were just not willing to believe in things they had never seen before or they could not touch. These people were the most curious, and the most intelligent, in Severus' opinion, and normally he kind of liked it when people dared to question common beliefs – but recently he had also come to the conclusion that he should not like it that much now as he was the king. After all, he tried to erase everything his father and brother had ever established during their reign.

And well, right now, it was making it pretty difficult to show Rolanda that she really was a witch.

"Well, of course I am not an expert about your family history, but I assume that your father did actually see your signs of childhood magic, however he seemed to have decided that you shall be kept away from all magical business. Probably for your own safety, as the non-magical population is to be kept in the dark about the existence of magic and a child which is encouraged to show its magic is not aware of the danger every witch and wizard is in.

"Just imagine people's reactions if you had shown your friends what kind of odd things you can let happen – they surely would have ran to their fathers and mothers, excited to tell them about what you had done and trust me, adults tend to be suspicious sooner than you could imagine. I am sure that your father wanted you to grow up like a normal child, one that does fit into his family. After all, he married an ordinary woman, not a witch, and their second born, your sister Alannah, is a muggle too," Severus explained, showing more patience than he had thought he had left. Rolanda was still looking at him with a quirked eyebrow, making it clear that she was still not convinced at all. He would need a long breath to bring this home, that was clear.

"I feel like you not being aware of your own powers shows how much knowledge about magic itself your father really was able to gather throughout the years. He was able to keep your magic from breaking free, he kind of manipulated you and as we see, it was more than effective. Now, you ask yourself why I still am so convinced that you are a witch."

"Yes, right, I do, now stop being so secretive, as if I could run out of these chambers and scream it out to everybody who is willing to listen – they would think that I am just as mad as you are," Rolanda snarled, closing her eyes for a moment as she felt a slight headache sneaking its way into her skull. Hell, she was just so overwhelmed by everything that was happening in this moment... it was too much, but still she wanted more informations, simply because she felt like that she could go to the end as she already had get it started.

"Everybody who has magical blood flowing through his or her veins can sense the magic in other persons. Maybe you registered a tingling sensation around me – this is it, it is your magic reaching out for mine. Therefore, I am pretty sure that you are a witch, as I have never come across a non-magical person who gave me this feeling," Severus stated, and he felt a little bit relieved as he catched a glimpse of a little bit of recognision flashing over Rolanda's face.

"Okay, I was able to feel it too, but I never used my magic before! How do you know if I am able to do magic at all? What if that skill just vanished because it was never required?" Rolanda asked, feeling like she was still not able to accept the concept of magic being a part of her completely.

"Trust me, it is not possible for the magic to vanish only because it was never used. And I can show you how you can use your magic, how you can bring it to the surface again and be able to control it. If you become my student, I could show you the deepest secrets of magic, you would be offered insight to the biggest wonders and would be able to erase the guilt of your father, if you accept. You could be able to live a normal life, with your sister and with your parents if they should come home again, and you would never have to fear that I could come after you."

Rolanda stared at him, her interest being awake fully now as she heard him talking about her father and his guilt. She had to admit that it did really sound tempting, this prospect of freedom, though she doubted that anything could be like it had been again – they had witnessed too many horrible things, both in Waterhal and at Blackdown Stronghold and she was not sure if she ever was going to be able to forget these pictures.

Also, she did not know if she wanted to erase this guilt without knowing what he had done at all, and if it was likely at all that he would forgive her father if she herself would promise to help him as his student in magic.

"This is a very generous offer, your highness," she stated, choosing her words more than carefully, even though she had not really cared about how she had spoken with him earlier. "But before I consider agreeing to it, I would like to know what exactly you are accusing my father of. As you give me the opportunity to erase this guilt from your record for him, I would like to know what it is."

Severus could not deny that she did have a point, and he knew that he could not risk to loose her – if he would ever be able to capture Rolanda's father was written in the stars and the plan he had formed in his mind, which included Rolanda and her magical abilities, was just too good to throw it away. Of course she could still disagree after hearing the reason why he wanted to punish her father, but maybe he had to take this risk to succeed.

"Fine, I guess this would even the field, wouldn't it? However, I want you to know that this is one of the rare privileges I will grant you! And I also warn you to ever speak like this with me, disagreeing with me and challenging your king. This should not not become a habit of yours, as this could ruin the chances I offered you," Severus snarled threatingly, hoping that she would finally understand that he did not wanted her to behave disrespectfully towards him – it would truly be a pity to be forced to punish her even though she had the best opportunities just in front of her.

"Well, your father once denied me his help while I was seeking for more knowledge, keen to expand my skills. I was dwelving into fields of magic that he thought are too dangerous to be explored and even though I reaffirmed him several times that I am well aware of the risks and am more than capable of controlling the dark side of magic, he told me that he could not help me. It was against his beliefs, and his refusal had been a real problem for me at this time, and back then, I swore to myself that I would show him that it was the wrong choice."  
Rolanda bit her lip, feeling torn back and forth – she could definitely understand why her father had refused and she was sure that she would have done the same if she had been in his situation. She did not know much about magic, but dark magic did not sound like something that was supposed to be supported, as it did sound evil after all.

But still, she had to think about the current situation while making a decision and for her, right now, the offer to become the king's student in order to enhance the conditions Alannah and her were living in at the moment. Of course she could never be sure if he would stick to his word and release them, and even spare her parents, but right now she thought that it was worth a try.

The king obviously saw her silence as negative, as he suddenly continued to speak:"You could become a powerful person so important to the kingdom that nobody in Ulidia would ever think about threatening you or your family. We would be a mighty pair, Rolanda, you and I, we could rule this kingdom together and nobody would be able to stop us from uniting all the kingdoms to brace us against all the threats that exist! The vikings, the French people... nobody."

He knew that he maybe had been a little bit too radical and honest about his goals while describing everything, but sooner or later, during their lessons, she would find out about his plans anyway. And though he was not formulating it like this, it was clear that he wanted to use her for his own benefit – but he was offering her a very high reward too.

Rolanda stared at him, barely believing that he was truly meaning his words the way he had said them. It seemed so unlikely that someone like him could offer her such a position and she was utterly convinced that she had imagined his words or that she was misinterpreting it all...

"Do... do you indicate that you want me to become your apprentice and... and y-your queen?" Rolanda stuttered, her heart racing in her chest and she felt like the world was spinning in a sickening speed.

What made it even worse was that the king was starting to smile, and it was a real smile for the first time since she knew him, being completely open without concealing anything. It was even more frightening than all his threats and furious outbreaks together.

He stepped closer to her and gently ran his fingertips along her face, starting at her temple before tracing her jawline. Rolanda trembled slightly as she felt small tingles erupting from the places he had touched her and he whispered:"If that is what you want. If you truly want to be by my side and change the world with me, then I will be glad to join hands with you in marriage."

Now he had said it.

Rolanda did not know if she was supposed to feel flattered or terrified about this more then obvious offer. All the while she was asking herself why he would do this. What kind of benefit would he have if he married her, additionally to teaching her everything about magic from his point of view.

Maybe everything of this was supposed to shock her father, maybe it would serve as some different kind of revenge. She actually was pretty sure that her father would have a heart attack if he heard that his daughter was considering to involve herself very, very closely with somebody he obviously was not a fan of.

But still she could not deny that his offer and the way he touched her was actually hitting a spot inside of her. She could feel a strong connection to him, though she did not know where it was coming from – maybe it was the magic, but it also could have been something else. Not necessarely love, but something like affection or... well, she could not even place that. Over the last few days, she had already felt it, but in this moment it was even more intense.

Of course she did not really long for power over people, but still there was something about the offer that was drawing her closer.

Maybe it was because she had always dreamed about being at the castle and being allowed to do what she pleased there when she had been younger.

This situation was more than confusing for her and she wished that somebody would have been there to help her. It did hurt a little bit as she remembered how she had always used to confide her secrets and problems to Aurora, taking a little bit of weight off her shoulders in the process of discussing everything with her.

But right now there was nobody who could have taken this difficult decision from her, and she felt a little bit helpless and even more overwhelmed as she registered that the king's face was slowly drifting closer.

His dark eyes were wandering between her lips and her own eyes and she felt shivers run down her spine as his warm breath was brushing over her lips. They nearly touched, but Rolanda stepped back just in time, clearing her throat a little bit too loudly.

Still her voice was shaky and low as she whispered:"I... I have to th-hink about it f-for a while... it, uhm... after all, it is a pretty big offer and... and it would mean a lot of change and new... new impressions and duties and... and decisions like this are supposed to be thought through pretty well, don't you think?"

Severus nodded slowly, but still she knew that he was not particularly pleased by her answer, that he surely had expected to hear something else from her. He stepped back a little bit and caressed her face yet again while murmuring:"Don't think about it for too long, Rolanda. Time is a precious good."

She had seen how the smile, that was still on his face, had changed, and she was a little bit afraid of the way he looked at her now. There was hunger and greed visible inside of this black orbs and she gulped hard as he allowed her to go down to the kitchen for some time after putting his wand away, storing it away safely in its hiding place.


	22. A Difficult Decision

Oh my, sprinting to the finnish line! I did not have any inspiration the last days and now I am trying to finish in time nonetheless... This chapter is extra long^^ Only one shorter one to go now!

I hope you all like it, leave me a review :)

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22.

A Difficult Decision

The rest of the day passed by in a blurr and Rolanda's head had been spinning all the time. She had literally been staggering around instead of walking, her knees as weak as warm butter, even a few hours after her conversation with the king.

Rolanda had spent the rest of the day with brooding inwardly, as the king had left her enough time to do so. Down in the kitchens, she had been sitting on one of the tables together with Sturgis, nibbling on a piece of fresh herb bread and listening to him chatting with some of the other servants that were walking around in the kitchens.

She had been unable to tell him anything about Severus' offer, unsure about what he would think about her, and what he would say about this offer. Normally she was not the type of person who did care about the opinion others had about her or her actions, but right now she felt like it was not a good idea to tell anyone about the things that had happened earlier this day.

Not only because of everything she had learned about magic today, something that sounded unbelievable and a little bit insane, and this alone would have been enough to keep quiet.

She could totally see why he kept his magical skills a secret, it was nothing an intelligent person would go peddling with – though she had never experienced any dramatic or dangerous human flaws until that fateful night in which King Severus had taken over the reign, she had heard and also read enough stories about people who were driven by greed, willing to do anything to achieve their goals.

There surely were many people who would dare to use violence to get someone to use their magic to give them benefits...

And as she thought about it, about the opportunities that this discovery was offering her, she could not deny that she saw this too. Provided that she would be able to gain more control over her magic, she could be able to gain so many things. More gold, a better, bigger cottage, more food, liberation from all the worries the cold and hard winters were bringing with them...

However, the other reason why she did not feel up to informing Sturgis about everything was the fact that the king had offered her to unite with him.

She did not feel like the other servants would show her the same amount of respect and kindness and helpfulness they did now after hearing about what she had been offered. They would surely not look at her the same way after receiving that information, after all, they thought of her as one of them at the moment. That would change if she should mention anything about the king's offer.

Then she would be someone above them, because they would see that she was not being treated equal to them, even though she was only a servant too, even if she was the personal servant of the king.

Maybe they would think that she had been pursuing any higher goals all the time, acting friendly towards the other servants to pull them to her side, to ensure that she would have a rather comfortable time at the castle. And in fact, they were all very kind towards her, taking some work away from her because they felt like that she was having enough to do with escaping the king's tantrums.

As the evening came, Sturgis' voice ripped her out of her thoughts, sounding a little bit concerned as he asked:"Rolanda, is everything okay with you?"

Rolanda blinked, actually a little bit surprised as she realised that she was still sitting on the tabletop of one of the tables in the kitchens, Sturgis looking at her with a questioning expression.

"I... uhm... yes, why do you ask?" She answered, shoving her braid over her shoulder and eating the last bite of her bread only to have something to do.

"You were staring into the air, looking as if you were thinking about a complicated problem," Sturgis replied, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "In case you want to hear some advice..."

Had she not been occupied with her heavy thoughts, Rolanda surely would have registered a light tingling sensation in her arm upon Sturgis' touch. However she did not and she looked up at him, shaking her head while trying to surpress a sad expression to sneak into her eyes:"I am sorry, Sturgis, but I do not feel like you would be able to help me with this..."

Releasing a sigh, she jumped down from the table and saw how one of the maids placed the tray with the king's dinner on the table just the same moment.

"I guess it is time to go upstairs...," she murmured and Sturgis nodded, still looking a little bit concerned.

"If you decide that you still want to tell me about your problems, I am here."

Rolanda bit her lip and smirked slightly as she decided that it was time for a little joke to relieve her heart and mind a little bit:"I always knew that you are not the sleeping type. I hope you are not annoying the maids too much by staying down here all night."

"Do not worry about me," he winked and Rolanda smiled at him before leaving the warmth of the kitchens behind.

As she slowly climbed up the many stairs, balancing the tray in her hands, she felt a certain amount of reluctance to return to the king's chambers building up inside of her. Every step seemed to need twice the amount of energy, her legs felt so extremely heavy... She did not wanted to return, she did not wanted to step under the king's gaze again...

How she wished that she could just leave the tray in front of the door and go. Of course she did not know where she could go to anyway. There was nothing left outside this castle, her village was burnt down and the chances that her family's cottage was only a construction of burned wood too were high. Her home was gone, her parents were gone...

Alannah was the only person that was left now, and she realised that her little sister was the person who was binding her to this place, the reason why running away from the castle was pointless. Let alone the fact that she surely would never be able to reach the gates and the drawbridge behind. She was convinced that there would be enough guards who knew that she was not supposed to leave, or even go to the courtyard after all.

Thinking about it, she had barely seen any daylight since she had come here, and she had not been outside at all. Suddenly she longed for the smell of the wide meadows around her village, she wanted to inhale the fresh air into her lungs, and feel the still warm rays of the autumn sun on her skin. The castle seemed so cold to her right now, like a predator that was swallowing her down.

Tears were stinging in her eyes by now and she sniffed, stopping in front of one of the rare windows that were positioned in the corridor that she had to walk through before reaching her final staircase.

Trying to calm herself down because her hands were trembling, causing the bowl of soup on the tray to sway dangerously, she took a few deep breaths, her eyes fixed on the horizon.

The sun was just going down, floating the valley with gold, red and orange light that was spreading a calm atmosphere, migratory birds were flying towards the glowing ball of light.

How she suddenly longed for a hug... On evenings that were like this one, Alannah and she had used to cuddle in front of the fireplace in their living room or, when the weather was still warm enough, outside in front of a campfire. For a moment, she could hear her mother's voice over the cries of the birds, and she told the two sisters the stories their grandmother had used to tell their mother when she had been their age. The smell of freshly fished and roasted fish lingered in her nose and she could almost taste it on her tongue, along with the fresh bread her mother used to bake.

Rolanda gulped hard, feeling her heart ache slightly and she surpressed a sob. The wish to just throw this damned tray to the ground and run down to the dungeons, to her little sister, was extremely prominent in her mind and she could actually feel the muscles in her legs twitch upon this thought.

She wanted to go downstairs, throw this dress away and accompany her sister in her cell – she felt like this was the place where she belonged to, with the last bit of family that remained to her as close to her as possible. For a split second, she thought that she did not care about what the king would do with her if she ended their little pact that was protecting Alannah at the moment. In that very situation she surely would think different, but right now she said herself that starving to death or being executed did not seem like something to fear if she only had her little bird with her.

Would the king decide to kill her if she should decide to return to the dungeons to be with her sister? After all, he had told her his biggest secret, one that could possibly dangerous for both of them, even though she did not really think that anybody would believe her if she tried to convince them that the king was a wizard.

Or maybe he would try every possible way to get her to stay with him, torture included?

She was not a seer, and the king was such an volatile character that nobody in this world could be able to foresee what he would do in such a case.

Should she just throw everything away and go see her sister? Over the last days, she had surpressed her feelings, how much she missed Alannah and now, her soul seemed to be screaming for her sister.

Had she been able to summon enough courage, she surely would have turned away to walk down the stairs again, but Rolanda was only human and she was, after all, a little bit afraid of death and especially of causing any harm to her sister. And so she turned the opposite way, her fingers gripping the tray so hard that her knuckles turned white and she climbed up the last staircase, feeling like she was walking the wrong way.

OoO

The king did not speak with her during the dinner, but while eating in silence, she could feel his black eyes observing her, attempting to drill into her mind and into her soul. She felt uncomfortable, his gaze reminding her of the hungry way he had looked at her earlier this day. It was clear to her that she was showing her discomfort openly to him with shuffling slightly whenever he looked her way, but she just could not stop herself from doing so anyway.

To be honest, she had expected him to try to influence her by presenting her more arguments why she should become his apprentice – he was talented with words, that was something she had found out within a short amount of time after becoming his servant and she did not doubt that he could have been able to persuade her into agreeing.

Thinking about it, he surely did not really need to give her time to think about his offer, he could have made her join him only seconds after his offer. But obviously he did not wanted this – he wanted her to agree of her free will and he also seemed to be relatively confident about how she would decide. This was actually making her feel even more uncomfortable, really, because this meant that he knew exactly that some of his arguments had been extremely strong, too strong to not be considered by Rolanda.

It was a relief as the king decided that they would go to bed early today and Rolanda felt like the darkness, that fell over the bedchamber as soon as she had extinguished the flame of the last candle, was giving her a little bit of her confidence and comfortableness back.

She listened to the king's calm breathing as he fell asleep and once again, though it surely had never stopped completely, her mind started working again, spinning around the offer he had made.

It was undeniable that he had promised her everything she could ever wish for, and also things that she did not really think she needed in her life, though they seemed tempting. Rolanda actually was a little bit surprised about herself as she started to think about the king's offer in a serious manner, though she had earlier preferred the thought of returning to her sister.

Learning magic sounded like a fairytale, but she had seen him perform it, making her realise that this was real and he believed that she was very talented too... With his assistance, she surely would be able to expand this talent he had told her she did have.

What she would be able to achieve was incomprehensibly and all she could do was think of smaller things, though she was sure that the king did have other goals with her magic. He did not care about her family, their modest wealth or their peace or luck, as he was obviously pursuing higher things. Surely he wanted more power, more land and more gold, it could not be different, and Rolanda asked herself if she really wanted to help him achieve this. Also, would there be anything left for her? Would he care about what she wanted to achieve, about her small, in comparison nearly innocent goals?

In any case she was sure that agreeing to his offer would mean the end of fear – she felt like her life and the life of Alannah would not be endangered any more, and maybe the king would even show mercy towards her father. Her taking away her father's guilt could mean freedom for all of them. Maybe he would release them all after some time, or at least the rest of her family...

Rolanda felt how her dark mood started to lighten ever so slightly as she realised that she, even though she was only a normal young woman, could possibly be able to change some bigger things. Suddenly she saw other reasons why she should accept, not only because of her family.

The hungry gazes the king had sent in her direction over the whole day suddenly meant something else than unpleasant shivers for her. It meant that he obviously wanted her, and she realised that he had already done a lot because of his desire – he had spared her beatings and anything worse, he had behaved so friendly towards her in between his tantrums...

Why had she not seen this earlier? Had she been blind, or simply too occupied with her personal worries to see that he was more than willing to do nearly anything for her?

What if she could be able to influence him after gaining his trust? Maybe he would permit her even more things after she had accepted his offer? Accepting surely meant something like possessing her completely to him, and if she played his game right, she could be able to gain a certain amount of power over him.

There was this possibility, she could not close her eyes to shut it out and she could feel the careful warmth of hope spreading through her body. After some time, she could possibly dare to use the power over him to turn all the things that were happening at the moment around, for the sake of everybody. What if she had the ability to persuade him to end all the murder and destruction that was going on right now?

He had offered her to become his partner, an equal, hell, his QUEEN if she wanted, and this showed her that there definitely was a possibility. Obviously he was giving her enough trust to help him decide and she knew that he would want to listen to her.

Of course it was a high risk – there was no doubt that he would be more than furious if he discovered that she had used him, that she had influenced him to pursue her own goals. His revenge surely would cost her her head and Alannah would also need a lot of luck to cling to her life, but Rolanda still felt like the positive aspects were weighing more to her.

If she should succeed, everybody, and not only she, her sister or her family, would benefit from it. Though she was not that megalomaniac to believe that she would be able to bring peace to the whole kingdom of Ulidia, she still believed that she would be able to change a lot.

Her heart was beating fast in excitement as she turned around under her blanket, deciding that she would take the risk, just so she would feel like she had done more than only sit around and wait until things were sorted out by somebody else.

oOo

Thanks to the decision she had made that night, Rolanda found that she had been able to sleep better than she had ever done since she was at Blackdown Stronghold.

It was easy to get up and prepare everything so that the king would have a pleasant morning.

After the breakfast table was cleaned up, Rolanda expected the king to retreat into his working room, but as she came back, he was standing in the middle of the living room, his face once again a unreadable mask as he asked calmly:"Have you decided if you want to accept my offer, Rolanda?"

Rolanda took a deep breath as she stepped forwards, looking into his dark eyes with as much determination she could muster as she answered:"Yes, I have decided. I will become your apprentice, your highness."


	23. The Search

Yeey, finished NaNoWriMo just in time! :)

I hope you don't mind if I pause for a bit, concentrating on my university work and also sorting out what is going to happen next! :)

* * *

23.

The Search

King Severus' face was lighting up immediately after Rolanda had finished her short announcement and he clapped his hands together as he rejoiced openly, causing Rolanda to jump slightly at the loud noise.

He was smiling widely, and also a little bit too triumphantly for her personal taste though, and she somehow felt like this was worse than having him cursing and screaming at her during one of his sudden tantrums.

She honestly would have preferred to have him yelling at her, insulting her in that process – when he screamed, she at least knew what he was up to then and that she only had to hold still and keep calm until his anger had cooled down. It was as if he at least was being honest while raging about anything that had or had not provoked him, it was as if his motives or goal were clear, at least to her, and she mostly knew what he was going to do during his outbreak. To her, he seemed to be a little bit more predictable than he usually was.

But when he smiled at her like this, with euphoria written across his face, and spoke to her with this unnaturally soft voice, she would feel shivers running down her spine, icy cold and numbing.

Of course, it was always hard to determine what he was going to do or what kind of thoughts were running through his mind, and so he generally stayed an unpredictable, dangerous subject. But she still felt like he was able to hide more bad intentions behind a smile than he could hide behind a furious outbreak.

A smile, she had learned over the last few weeks, meant that he was concealing something, maybe bigger thoughts and ideas, nasty plans or intentions that had formed in his mind earlier and that also surely meant nothing good for some of the persons in his surroundings.

Even though he was so talented at hiding what he was thinking and feeling deep inside of him, behind an seemingly unbreakable mask of calmness and calculation, this smile was giving away more than he was probably intending to show at all. Did he even know that he was hinting that he was about to do anything nobody could like?

"It is good to hear news of such nature," the king replied, his voice calm and controlled and in this moment Rolanda realised that his smile did not quite seem to reach his eyes. The black orbs did remain rather cold and expressionless while all the lines in his face were indicating an euphoric smile. And as he took her hand, she had to control herself so that she would not yank her hand out of his grip, possibly already ruining the small illusion she wanted to build up for him.

Severus felt triumphant and his insides seemed to be flooded with an reassuring warmth, making him ultimately feel like he was floating above the floor a little bit.

He had reached his small goal, Rolanda had agreed to become his apprentice and now he could finally consider her fully his'. Nobody would be able to tear them apart as soon as he would have magically bound her to him, not even her father would have enough power to loosen this connection. If he did everything right, she would agree more than willingly into deeper connections with him and she would never be able to run away from him, no matter what he would do with her.

Of course he had only barely doubted that she would give him a positive answer to his offer ultimately, but he still could not deny that he was immensely relieved to have heard the words from herself.

The power he was longing for, had been longing for for so many years by now, was slowly and finally coming closer and he was already able to reach for it and feel it, though his imaginative fingertips were barely brushing along it.

To him, she was something like the spare key to the door he had feared to have been locked for good when Hooch had denied to help him.

But still, he was beginning to feel as if it had been good in the end, that he would be able to achieve better results now. Rolanda may not be as experienced as her father was, and he would need a little bit more time to built her up, but in the end, it would be easier to persuade her to agree to things her father would never have done. Under his strong and well practiced influence, she would be doing things so cruel, she would try to find anything to hold on to, something or someone who kept her from loosing her mind over her deeds. And then, he would be there, causing her to slowly become dependent from him until she would never be able to break free.

He would possess everything of her – her magic, her body, her heart. All of her.

Of course he would always keep an eye on her, minding that she would always have everything she needed. Enough for her, more for him.

In the past, it had been reverse – all his siblings had received whatever they wanted while Severus had always been forced to settle for less than nothing, in his opinion.

But these days were going to be wiped off everybody's memory as soon as he would have succeeded. He would never be forced to remember all the unfulfilled wishes and all the activities he had been denied as a child.

For a short moment, he allowed the sorrow and disappointment of the past to roll over him, making his heart clench slightly and he gulped before building up his cool, unmoving mask to protect himself.

"Well, then we should start immediately, we have no time to loose, haven't we?" He announced calmly, slightly squeezing Rolanda's hand and lingering a bit before he pulled her with him, towards the stairs to his bed chamber.

Rolanda felt her heart racing in her chest in panic as he said:"We should better not be disturbed during our practice, I doubt that anyone would react exactly positive if they caught us trying to practice magic."

Holding back an loud sigh of relief, Rolanda smiled and nodded, trying to appear as eagerly as she possibly could in her nervous state. For a split second, she actually asked herself if it was the right thing to do, if she really should attempt to fool him to use him for her own benefit... But then she shoved the thought away, realising that it was the right thing to do and that there was hardly any possibility to go back by now. She told her to think of Alannah, that she was doing this for her, and it helped a little bit to shove her doubts into the back of her mind.

Also she could not deny that she was immensely curious about what was going to happen, how her first try of making her magic show outwardly would go.

They came to a stop in the middle of the huge bed chamber and Rolanda half expected the king to suddenly pull out a wand for her out of his pocket, but he did not do so.

"So, today, we will simply try to elicit your magic from the shell that your father caused to built all around it. Normally, witches and wizards do show signs of accidental magic during their early childhood, they become aware of their magic and are able to control it to a certain point when they grow older. Before that, things would just happen randomnly, beyond the childs control or even awareness – hovering puppets maybe, or things could change their colour of texture under the influence of the child's freely flowing magic.

"As your father caused you to surpress your magic and you are not exactly aware of its presence within your whole being, we will try to get it out. Maybe it will take some time, as we have to break barriers that have been in place for most of your life, but we shall not be discouraged too easily," the king explained calmly and Rolanda nodded slowly, hoping that she would be able to do anything, that she would meet his expectations.

"And how are we going to do this?" Rolanda asked carefully, hoping that in the future the king would not have any problems if she asked any questions about the things he wanted to teach her.

"I want you to close your eyes and listen into your inside, try to feel the hints of magic that are able to sip out of this shell. When you feel your magic, you can try to grab it and lure it out, though you should not force it, as this could have negative effects. Only when your magic is a strong, prominent feeling inside of you, it could happen that it breaks out and shows itself in whatever form it may found suiting."

"But how am I going to know that it really is my magic that I am feeling?" Rolanda wanted to know, her eyes narrowed slightly, her brows quirked rather sceptical.

To her surprise, the king remained calm and showed a lot of patience with her in her opinion as he took his time to answer, the tone in his voice not changing at all as he spoke:"You will know it when you feel it. Trust me."

Rolanda bit her lip to hold back any sarcastic commentaries that were rising in her throat, craving to break free. He seemed to prefer to speak in mysteries, and she really hoped that he did not see this explanation as a helpful advice, because to her, it definitely was not, no, not at all.

And additionally, how was she supposed to trust him? Of course he was only talking about this topic at the moment, but still she did not feel like she was going to trust him about anything.

Releasing a small sigh, she closed her eyes as he had told her and tried to listen into herself, searching for any sign of the magic she was searching for.

But as much as she concentrated herself, all she could feel was her own heartbeat and they way her lungs filled with air. There was nothing, not even the tiniest tingling sensation.


End file.
